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WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Nicolas Cruz

Reincarnate of: Phobos, God of Fear

Species: Demigod

Age: 24

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: David Castro

Position: Criminal

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

Growing up, Nicolas Cruz was always a handful. His parents, young idealists who’d dreamed of having children for years before his birth, were never entirely sure what to do with him. Even as a baby, Nico was a lot to deal with. He was constantly fussy, requiring constant attention in a way that exhausted anyone tasked with taking care of him. As he grew older, things only got worse.

His parents, desperate for a family, loved him more out of obligation than anything else. It all worked out fine for Nico until, just after his tenth birthday, his parents found they were expecting a second child. They were ecstatic and, at first, so was Nico. He liked the idea of having someone to play with, liked thinking someone might understand him. As his mother’s pregnancy went on, however, he began to notice a shift. His parents grew less and less patient with him, their tempers getting shorter. Nico didn’t think much of it, excited for his younger sibling regardless.

Unfortunately, the birth of his sibling --- a brother --- only caused things to grow more strained. Nico’s parents found that Nico’s presence made the baby fussier than he was when his brother was away at school, almost as if something in Nico upset the baby. Remembering what a difficult baby Nico had been made the prospect of raising a similar child daunting, and his parents began to argue about a solution.

Eventually, they came to a decision and, at eleven years old, Nico’s parents placed him in the foster system. Neither his mother nor his father seemed particularly upset as he was ushered into a social workers car; if anything, they seemed relieved. Nico didn’t entirely understand what was happening, but he understood he was angry. It was a feeling that never quite faded, one he would carry with him for a long time. He bounced around the system a lot in the following years. No parents had any interest in adopting a child so old, and foster parents often sent him back, claiming his presence caused an ‘unsettling feeling’ to come across their homes.

As he grew older, Nico had a difficult time befriending the other foster children. Eventually, though, he managed to find a solitary companion in a boy his own age. The boy had an older brother who’d aged out of the system a few years prior and eventually, Nico was taken to meet the older boy. A local street thug, the older boy took an immediate interest in Nico’s uncanny ability to make those around him feel unsettled. Nico fell into a life of crime without meaning to, first assisting his friend’s brother and eventually taking on jobs of his own. He found he was very good at it, and as he grew older and stronger, he made his money as a muscle for hire.

Before long, Nico’s reputation began to spread. Local criminals hired him to do anything from intimidation to settling disputes, and every time, Nico came through. Eventually, criminals in neighboring cities were asking for his help, allowing him to travel as he wished. That was how he ended up in Brazil, where he never ran out of work. From jobs bordering on ‘legal,’ like bouncer positions at local clubs to the always available intimidation positions, Nico kept fairly busy. It was never enough to satisfy his desire for violence, never enough to make him feel at peace.

A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES

Name: Matthias Castell

Based on: Prince Charming

Species: Human

Age: 25

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Charles Melton

Position: King of Trier

WHEN YOU’RE FAST ASLEEP.

The Castell family did not come to the Trier throne peacefully. Matthias’s grandfather, Ludwig the First, was a power hungry man who acted as advisor to the crown. For years, Oskar plotted, and when he gained the people’s trust, Ludwig organized a riot and that riot lasted forty-one days before the king finally surrounded his crown to Ludwig Castell. It was not a particularly violent beginning, but the betrayal was dishonest nonetheless. Matthias’s father, Oskar, learned all of his skills in manipulation from his father. He believed that a kingdom’s primary priority should be expansion and once he claimed the throne, he poured the majority of Trier’s resources into expanding its military. Service was not necessary, but Oskar did reward his soldiers handsomely and once word spread, numerous recruits were lined out, awaiting to join the force. After Oskar ensured Trier’s military prowess, a campaign across the neighbouring kingdoms began.

By the time Matthias was born, Oskar had conquered all that he chose, but Trier was never founded on peace. The military stalked the streets alongside the police force, ensuring that the citizens of the conquered neighbouring kingdoms were obedient. Numerous laws were enacted to control trade and Trier had closed borders, a policy that Matthias never once agreed with. Despite its horrors, Trier was undeniably powerful, rich in resources, rich in military and it had many successful campaigns under its belt. As a result, Trier had allies.

Matthias grew up knowing that he would one day take the crown and his father from a young age attempted to force Matthias into agreeing with their disturbing, outdated policies, but Matthias always had a strong moral compass. He could recognize that their nation was intimidating and that his father was greedy. As a result, once Matthias learned to read, he began purchasing books on neighbouring kingdoms, on languages, on culture, and Matthias quickly realized how disturbed his nation truly was. Matthias confided in his sister, Henriette, and the smarter of the two siblings, she reminded him that they were capable of changing it. Matthias loved her dearly and the more time he spent prying at her brain, understanding her compassion, the more Matthias realized that his sister was much better suited for the crown. Unfortunately, Henriette was a woman and one of Trier’s many outdated concepts was that only a male heir could act as king.

By the time Matthias was thirteen, he was purposely humiliating his father, trying to prove what a terrible ruler he would be. If Henriette was queen, she would change Trier for the better and Matthias was not nearly as intelligent as her. He would fumble over rulings, he would never understand how to navigate peace, and Matthias had his heart set on Henriette’s rule. If he were stubborn enough, he believed he could make it happen. Unfortunately, all his humiliations brought was numerous sentencings to other kingdoms and Oskar hoped that his trusted allies would whip Matthias into shape. Isolating Matthias only expanded his knowledge, however, and the more he understood about politics, the more he resented the crown and everything it stood for. All his travels brought him was a diverse skill set, ranging from swordplay to language to art and dance and the intellectual pursuits did interest him in ways the throne never could.

On Matthias’s sixteenth birthday, he decided to make things much more difficult for his father. In the kingdom of Chrochen, his father’s most trusted ally, Matthias decided to make a move for the youngest prince, only a year older than him, but certainly not promised the crown. They began a very public love affair and his father, horrified, forced Matthias home. Despite the plan originally being a ploy, Matthias genuinely loved the Prince of Chrochen, though their love certainly was not moving forward. Weeks later, Matthias set his sights on the maid and once again, he believed himself in love with her. His father intervened once more and the cycle continued for years. Matthias swore he loved each and every one of his conquests, always a romantic at heart.

Matthias was successfully making his parents’ lives a living hell when his father fell gravely ill. Allegedly on his deathbed, Matthias never cared enough to say his goodbyes. When Oskar finally died, Matthias was strangely relieved, thankful he no longer had to suffer through his father’s cruelty and manipulation. Henriette unfortunately was not given the crown, but Matthias was, and his mother arranged a marriage for him with the Princess of Glensburg. Matthias immediately refused and in an act of debauchery, hosted a very public orgy, but that did not sway the Princess of Glensburg nor his mother. To celebrate Matthias’s last night of freedom, his mother agreed to a ball and it was there that Matthias experienced love at first sight.

WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Riley Burnell

Reincarnate of: Enyo, Goddess of War

Species: Demigod

Age: 24

Gender: Cis-female

Faceclaim: Zoe Kravitz

Position: Ex underground fighter

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

Born to a family of criminals, Riley’s mother, Raina always hoped for something better for her daughter, and she made her hopes abundantly clear. From a young age, Riley was encouraged to get an education and she was encouraged to become a lawyer, an artist, a politician or whatever else she chose. Raina always had incredible ideas, but in reality, Riley was the exact opposite of what her mother hoped for. It was never intentional, violence simply spoke to her even at five years old. On the playground, she would start fights for no reason besides the simple fact that she enjoyed them.

Naturally, by the time Riley was seven, she was begging her parents for fighting lessons. Initially, her mother refused, worried about her daughter and wanting something more for her, but her father, a businessman and a cold, hard criminal, immediately agreed, knowing that his daughter would be a success – he’d ensure it. Simon hired the best he could to teach his daughter how to fight successfully and though she was young, her natural, raw talent was obvious. Instinct guided her through every movement successfully and Riley quickly fell deeply in love with fighting and the adrenaline it brought.

Raina was absolutely miserable with the development, but by the same token, her daughter was happy. It was a difficult situation for Riley’s mother to come to terms with and as Riley got deeper into the ring, her mother ended up leaving, claiming that she couldn’t bear to witness her daughter become exactly like herself and her husband. The divorce that followed was grisly, and as much as Riley loved her mother, battle spoke to her, she loved it, and so she stayed. Riley and her mother kept in contact for the first few years following her departure, but it was nothing meaningful. Riley had broken her mother’s heart and unbeknownst to her, it was the first of many.

For seven straight years, Riley was merely training to fight – her father invested a whole lot of money into his daughter and had no doubt that her ability would win it all back – and finally, her first fight was rolling around. She was nicknamed ‘Enyo’ in the ring, a name she never bothered to look up, and during her first battle, she knocked out her opponent within three minutes. It was a quick fight and one her father made a pretty penny on. For years, that continued, and for years, Riley made poor decisions because of it. She drank, she dropped out of school, she took shady deals to throw and win fights with very little honour, but it was the world she was surrounded in, exactly as her mother predicted. At least Riley had victories and the belts to prove her successes.

Eventually, Riley stepped into the ring inebriated, no longer challenged and pretty much always drunk as long as she wasn’t practicing. It wasn’t a good idea, but she had gotten cocky. Naturally, her opponent had the upper hand and as Riley got the crap kicked out of her for the first time, the ring was shrouded in darkness. Initially, Riley assumed it was because she was knocked out, but the audience panicked, and after a moment, Riley could see everything. She ultimately won the fight solely because of the weird darkness that overcame the ring, although no one could witness her crazy victory.

Unfortunately, Riley’s injuries were much worse than she expected. She had a broken collarbone, cracked ribs and a severe concussion. The doctor predicted it would take weeks to heal, but five days later, Riley’s bones had all mended themselves. Once again, Riley grew cocky, but since New York was no longer challenging her and her father owed her a great deal of money as one of his prized fighters. Rather than asking daddy dearest for the money, Riley broke into his safe, took her portion, and then traveled to Brazil. From past fights, Riley had numerous connections in Brazil and she quickly returned to the ring.

Brazil proved too easy for Riley’s natural talents, too, and she found herself drinking just as much as she was in New York. Some nights, when she was moderately self-aware, Riley wondered if it was an addiction like the one she had to violence, but she dismissed the idea. It was just unchallenging, stagnant, and after meeting a friend, one that sincerely excited her, Riley spontaneously decided to take a trip to Greece. Once again, she repeated her past cycle of stealing what was owed to her and then wordlessly leaving.

A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES

Name: Victoire Gabriella ‘Ella’ Laurent

Based on: Cinderella

Species: Human

Age: 25

Gender: Cis-female

Faceclaim: Lily James

Position: Queen of Trier

WHEN YOU’RE FAST ASLEEP.

Beautiful, gracious and kind, Victoire Gabriella Laurent, fondly referred to as ‘Ella’, was the beloved daughter of Raphael and Adalie Laurent. Her father, a merchant, and her mother, a gentle and esteemed high society lady, had been trying to no success to raise a family of their own since their marriage. They lost three children and many more pregnancies before being blessed with Ella, who survived well past her infancy, and grew into an empathetic, curious young girl. Raised with strong moral values and a great appreciation for the people around her, Ella’s early life was as close to idyllic as anyone could ask for. She spent a great deal of time out in the garden and surrounding countryside with her mother, and Adalie made sure that her daughter understood the importance of one key teaching - that no matter how cruel the world and other people could be, as long as you had courage and remained kind, there would always be hope for a better future. Ella took this teaching to heart, and looked at the world as a magical place, indulging in each and every legend and story her books described.

Unfortunately, when Ella was six years old, tragedy struck the Laurent family once again. Adalie became suddenly ill, no doctor could provide a diagnosis or a cure, and within mere days Ella’s mother passed away, taking much of the colour and magic from the estate and Ella’s life when she went. With his work meaning that he was rarely at home, and knowing that grief had a massive place in his homestead, Raphael recognised that his daughter needed a female hand to guide her as she grew. He married Lady Celine, bringing her and her two daughters, Beatrice and Doraine, into the Laurent estate. Celine was an amazing charming woman when her husband was home, but when he was away on business, far more regularly than he was at home, she doted on her own daughters while treating Ella completely despicably.

At best, Ella was an irritating presence in her own home and at worst, she was someone to be cast aside and despised. It began with passive aggression, progressed into outright insults, and finally ended with Ella being expected to perform the lowest duties of all, Lady Celine dismissing the servants so that Ella could take their place. Her stepsisters jeered when they saw her covered in chimney soot, branding her with the nickname Cinderella, but Ella remained steadfast in her determination not to ruin her father’s happiness. Raphael had suffered so extensively in his life already, had so many of his family members torn from him, that Ella couldn’t bear for him to lose another. When he died, leaving the estate to Celine and Ella in equal measure, Ella would not allow her stepmother and stepsisters alone to reside in the home that her parents had built and developed together. Although she remained a servant and was subjected to great cruelty, she remained hopeful that one day she would have the estate for herself, and that her kindness may finally get through to the women she lived with. Surely, Ella thought to herself, someone could not be truly cruel through and through, and she refused to resign herself to the prospect that Celine could be truly evil.

Ella adjusted to her new normal, keeping her head down when it came to her family members, maintaining her own dreams and reminding herself that her imagination would get her through, and that one day, everything would have been worth it. Her stepmother and stepsisters frequently went to the markets to purchase expensive silk dresses with her father’s inheritance, and when they were away Ella did the one thing that kept her sane. She helped as many people as she possibly could, sneaking food to the nearby village, bringing an old beggar woman that walked the lane at the bottom of the estate in for a bath and a hot meal, or simply bringing mothers and their children into the attic to hide until the ship came in to take them to a new life.

One day, Ella received an invitation to the royal ball at the castle. She immediately made preparations to attend as Lady Laurent, her rightful place, but when she came down the steps in her gown, Celine, Beatrice and Doraine set about destroying the labour of love she had partaken in restoring her mother’s dress. Ella was devastated, and she ran crying into the garden. An elderly beggar woman, the very same as Ella had been kind to on numerous occasions, approached her and offered to assist Ella in any way that she could. Ella was skeptical, but the woman insisted, and so Ella followed the beggar into a nearby village. The people there immediately recognised Ella, many of them knowing her for her kindness, and helped to dress her in the finest silk that they could provide, gifting her with the loan of a carriage, horses and finally, fine glass slippers made by one of the talented local craftsmen.

Ella was taken aback by the kindness that she had been shown, and she promised to return by midnight, so that she may return the gifts and get home before her stepmother and stepsisters could realise she was gone. At the ball, however, she found herself wanting all the time in the world. Prince Matthias had quite the reputation, but all Ella saw in his eyes was kindness, and all she wanted when he was dancing with her was for it to continue forever. She ran from the party at midnight, though her heart desperately wanted her to stay, and used memories of that night to sustain her through the week’s chores. Never in her wildest dreams - and Ella was quite capable of extensive imaginings - could she imagine that he would find her again, using only the most simple of mechanisms to do so.

WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Bailey Keaton Nieves

Reincarnate of: Eros, God of Love, Passion and Desire

Species: Demigod

Age: 26

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Jacob Artist

Position: Artist

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

There was never any question as to whether Adam Nieves and Rita Russell would marry when they were old enough - they were raised mere streets away from each other, attended the same society functions throughout the years, went through school together, and attended each and every social event on each other’s arm. As far as the outside world was concerned they were the perfect couple, their family completed when they welcomed a beautiful baby boy called Bailey into their life, and their dedication and loyalty to each other was only increased tenfold when it came to the Nieves family business. Records of the Nieves family acting as entrepreneurs  in Washington could be found from times predating the city becoming the capital of the United States, though the arenas they played in changed regularly over the years. Bailey’s father continued the focus on technology, deciding to focus almost exclusively on aerospace engineering, with a little bit of clean energy thrown in there to ensure he got some tax dollars back at the end of the year. He expected that when his son became older he would show the same interest as every other Nieves had before him, that he would have a natural tendency towards science and a keen logical mind, but that was far from the case.

Bailey performed above and beyond his peers from a young age, though Adam and Rita soon found that it wasn’t because of an extraordinary potential for analysis, but because everyone around him seemed to find themselves under some kind of spell. Teachers adored him, giving Bailey A grades throughout his time in education even if he gave in an empty page, and while at the beginning this was something that the mischievous child found great amusement in, as Bailey matured he realised that he wanted something more. He wanted to work for something, he wanted to earn it, he wanted to feel that great sense of achievement. As such, Bailey dabbled in as many hobbies and pastimes as he could, determined to find what he was truly good at. Bailey found himself drawn to the arts, naturally excelling in music, drawing and any passionate pursuit, and finally he had a path that he felt was worth walking. His parents were sceptical, and while his father remained convinced that someday Bailey would realise that science was not as far away from art as Bailey originally thought, Bailey’s mother saw that he was besotted with his work, that he was calmer and far less likely to get into trouble or play with others when he had space to let go creatively, and so she indulged every outlet he wished to try out.

Bolstered by Rita’s support, Bailey made quite the name for himself in the artistic community. He had his very first gallery opening when he was only eighteen years old, and while his career was taking off and his father was finally beginning to accept that this was who his son was, Bailey once again began to feel the familiar tingling of longing. He needed something more, his heart cried out for a face that he saw only in his dreams, and so Bailey threw himself into each and every relationship that presented itself before him. Considering his natural charisma and magnetism, that was not a hard thing to find. His family and friends were powerless as they watched Bailey burn through one relationship after the next, all of them ending dramatically, and leaving him far more empty than he had been before.

When Bailey was in his early twenties, he demonstrated abilities that were far from typical, and impossible to discount as mere charisma. It started with feathers appearing in his bed in the morning, tingling at his shoulder blades, and an impulsive desire to travel, to go anywhere in the world with nothing stopping him. Soon, it progressed to full fledged wings appearing on Bailey’s back, and it became far harder for him to hide that from his family. One morning, while he was attempting to cause the wings to retreat as they did before, his mother walked into his room. Rita almost dropped on the spot, letting out a yell, and Adam was immediately on her heels. Bailey’s father was all business, telling Rita to get the phone. No doctors could come up with an answer for why this occurred, and so the Nieves family became bonded by yet another secret -- over the past twenty years, Bailey grew to know far too much about his parents, instinctively picking up on differences in their relationship, and knowing that the lipstick on his father’s collar and the mess of his mother’s hair could not be contributed to each other.

Knowing his parents’ relationship was maintained only out of obligation and not love nor passion, and failing to find anyone who loved him in the way that he could love in return, Bailey focused all of his attention on the next power to emerge - his increasing ability to influence the relationship of others. Some of the time he did it to bring who he saw as soulmates together, other times he did it to heal his friends’ broken hearts, yet others he did it just to wreak some chaos. Bailey knew he was more than human, and when it came to Valentine’s Day, it was impossible for him not to draw distinctions between himself and Cupid, or Eros. That being said, self expression and knowledge had never been Bailey’s problem - it was sharing that with other people, and having them share in return, that constantly eluded him, at least in any way that was significant enough to satisfy him.

The night of the masquerade ball, Bailey had almost stayed at home, or ducked out to go to the bar down the road and find someone to waste the night with once more, but his mother insisted that he walked with them. Bailey reluctantly agreed, feeling bound to his parents in gratitude for what they kept for him. Bailey played his part, greeted his parents’ business partners, talked stocks by the punch table, and then, when he was on his way to get his mother another drink, he met a woman who changed his life in an instant. Upon meeting her eyes, all of the dreams and visions, as well as the figure he had been painting since he could hold a brush, came together into one, and Bailey knew that this was the person he was meant to be with. Even when he learned of her true identity, and she learned of his, Bailey was not perturbed. Their families had been at each other’s throats for decades, constantly fighting over stocks or business contacts or advertising revenue of some description, but their families didn’t know what it felt like to spend time with her, to love her as deeply as Bailey did.

WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Beckett “Beck” Sánchez

Reincarnate of: Achilles

Species: Demigod

Age: 26

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Santiago Segura

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

Dreams surrounded Beck, but they were never the happy, fun kind that children seemed to talk about. His dreams were much darker, about war, about sharing a tent with his best friend, always paranoid that they would be on the brink of death, and about an arrow that struck a man’s heel. Every night, Beck would have those very same dreams, and his mother, always protective of her son, would panic when he informed her about them in the morning. All of her attention couldn’t be solely on Beck, however, due to the nature of their home. His mother, always with a bleeding heart, took in various orphans whenever she could and Beck was surrounded by kids roughly his age, just with different interests.

Growing up, Beck was attracted to violence, a natural side effect of the dreams he had and Beck spent much of his time understanding the ways of war. His mother, of course, protested such pursuits -- she was worried that her son would be harmed -- but Beck was relentless. He wanted to understand war the way the man in his dreams did and since he was far too young to join the military, he would settle for various forms of martial arts. Naturally, Beck exceeded, a natural study, although he always disliked the preaching his sensei's had about peace and that martial arts was only for necessary. He disagreed with the sentiment, but Beck wisely kept it to himself and began entering competitions.

During a competition that would award Beck first place, his opponent landed what would ordinarily be a knockout blow, but Beck found that he didn’t feel it. He allowed his opponent to continue landing hits on him, none of which he felt, and then he took the title.

At home, curious about what he had discovered, Beck began experimenting with his invulnerability. He would climb trees and jump out and nothing hurt him, he would spar with people in his dojos and still feel nothing. It was thrilling and Beck fully intended to take full advantage of it. With that revelation and his focus on violence, it was only natural that Beck would aim for the Navy Seals, elite operatives, and he began working towards it despite only being a teenager. He challenged himself to learning more about combat, taking various classes, and mastering each of them, having always had a natural affinity for combat, and Beck challenged himself to learning about guns and various other tools.

One night, bored and ‘recovering’ from a fight -- his mother always insisted and Beck never had the heart to explain that nothing hurt him -- she put on a bad rendition of the movie Troy. Much to Beck’s shock, he recognized himself in the film as Achilles. It was far from factual, but it reminded him almost of his dreams. That evening, he bought a copy of the Iliad, and by the end, Beck realized that he was Achilles’s reincarnate. He remembered intimate details about the soldier’s life, understood where his invulnerability came from, and Beck felt settled with the revelation.

When Beck turned seventeen, he immediately applied for the Navy Seals and unsurprisingly, given his background, made it through training. He was born for warfare, he reckoned, he just wasn’t sure why yet. By the time he was in active service, Beck made several close friends in his squad and they all respected his abilities greatly. Beck loved the attention, basked in it, and he found his niche among the Seals.

But history always, always repeated itself. Beck’s best friend, James, the only man he would die for (if it were possible), was killed in battle. Beck had warned him not to push forward, but like an idiot, James completely ignored all of his warnings. He was shot six times in Afghanistan and naturally, Beck completely lost his cool. He remembered Patroclus’s death in the Trojan War, realized that it was James laying there and something inside of him snapped. It was all instinct when Beck also pushed forward and killed every single enemy soldier that still stood and when the Seals crowded around him and James, Beck realized that James had been Patroclus’s reincarnate, too, and that their love -- if you could call it that -- was always doomed.

For disobeying orders, Beck was discharged from the Navy Seals. He never bothered to find out whether it was honourable or not and frankly, after that loss, he didn’t care. Beck didn’t return to his mother and he didn’t bother spending the small amount of money on a house or a car. Instead, he decided to return to where Achilles was born and explore his birthright. The trip to Greece was long, but Beck didn’t mind and when he arrived there, much to his surprise, he heard rumours about the Greek Gods reconvening on Mount Olympus.

WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Phoebe Burnell

Reincarnate of: Psyche, Goddess of the Soul

Species: Half God

Age: 26

Gender: Cis-female

Faceclaim: Margot Robbie

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

Orphaned at birth, Phoebe spent her first five years in and out of foster homes, very little of which she remembers. All her caretakers hoped for adoption, like they did with every child, and Phoebe got lucky. The Moreau were wealthy business executives from Washington, D.C., and were heavily involved in politics. They were a family with countless enemies, but the means to look after Phoebe. What more could Phoebe’s caretakers hope for? They happily signed the documents, giving the Moreau full rights over Phoebe and she moved to Washington, D.C. to begin a whole new life.

Immediately, she was enrolled in all of the best and most prestigious schools. Once she was old enough, she was taught the necessary etiquette to survive fancy dinner parties and they devised a lovely story about how her birth mother died in labour and they defied the odds in finding her. They were the picture perfect happy family, but Phoebe, only a child at the time, couldn’t help but feel lonely. That didn’t mean she was ungrateful -- quite the contrary, Phoebe had every possession she could ever hope for, but she was being crushed under the weight of emotions.

Her emotions only grew more powerful and all consuming as Phoebe grew older. By the time she was twelve, Phoebe could barely handle the emotional burden she was under, feeling absolutely everything around her. Panicked, her parents sent her to counselling, but nothing helped ease her feelings. She was diagnosed with depression, but Phoebe knew that wasn’t a perfect fit. It was like she was mirroring the world around her, but putting that into words would only paint her as crazy. At home, out of sessions, Phoebe began leaving her body in the middle of the night. She would walk around, visit the neighbours, and by morning, return to her body. She was losing her mind and finally, the weight of all the strangeness that surrounded Phoebe began to break her. She was distressed, confused, alone, and nothing helped.

Phoebe asked to be admitted into the psychiatric ward two weeks after her first astral projection. Her parents were panicking about how they could possibly frame their beloved daughter, a golden child, in a positive light despite her admittance to the psychiatric ward. In the end, they obviously elected to hide it. Phoebe unfortunately didn’t find any relief there -- her condition only worsened -- and that was when she finally discovered what the word ‘empath’ meant. Of course her counsellor meant it in a very different way,  but Phoebe did feel exactly what those that surrounded her did. As the therapist went on, Phoebe began to hear his thoughts, and that was when she finally understood: Phoebe was an empath, a telepath and she could astral project. She was special somehow.

Unfortunately, realizing that she was specialize didn’t exactly help. Phoebe slowly devised coping techniques, her favourite of which was gambling, an easy way to lose herself in a game and in a room filled with inebriated people -- usually content -- Phoebe could sponge off of their joy. Much more stable than she was as young teen, Phoebe resumed her position as the golden daughter and followed through with her obligations. She joined the family business, she fell in love with poetry and art and every pursuit filled with passion and emotion.

At a masquerade ball, Phoebe met somehow that changed her world. She showed him his heart’s desire, and in the vision, she saw herself, but somehow… different. She was around the same age, but she was wearing different clothing, and her name was ‘Psyche.’ He was someone she hardly knew, but in that moment, Phoebe could have sworn she understood everything about him. It was a startling revelation, but Phoebe pursued him nonetheless. The only problem was that underneath the masks, their families were sworn enemies.

Nevertheless, despite the betrayal to her parents, Phoebe snuck around with the man. It was some of the happiest moments of her life, even more so than when she was sat at gambling tables, and Phoebe had always followed her heart. Why would she refuse at this point? As they spent more time together, Phoebe eventually came up with the idea of running away. After an evening of astral projection lead her to Mount Olympus, filled with Gods and Goddesses, Phoebe understood that was where she and her secret partner belonged. As much as she loved her parents, Phoebe had never been happy with the life she was forced into.

WE ARE THE SHIELD,

Name: Spencer Powell

Reincarnate of: Patroclus

Species: Demigod

Age: 26

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Elliot Knight

Position: Former Army Ranger Medic

AND WE ARE THE SWORD.

From a young age, Spencer Powell was drawn to fights and violence. His mother, a soft-hearted woman, worried for his safety while his father, a soldier, laughed off the habit anad called his son scrappy, claiming it was normal behavior. Despite his father’s assurances that he’d grow out of the love of fights, Spencer continued picking them as he grew. In an attempt to ease his mother’s mind, his father taught him how to fight, discovering that Spencer had natural skill in the area. The two bonded over the lessons, with Spencer pushing himself as hard as he could in an attempt to make his father proud.

As time went on, Spencer’s father spent less and less time at home. He went on tour more and more often, letters going from frequent and detailed to scarce and short until they eventually stopped coming altogether. The next time Spencer and his mother receieved any mail from his father, it was a short letter of apology accompanied by divorce papers. He’d fallen in love with a woman in his unit, he explained, and he couldn’t deny his feelings any longer. Spencer’s mother was devestated, but she signed the papers without complaint. Spencer, on the other hand, was angry at the development.

He began picking fights more often, though he was no longer sure what he wanted to prove or to whom. The skills his father had taught him ensured that he won every fight he got into, and while his mother worried for his safety she made no attempt to punish him. Spencer knew she was afraid of losing him the way she’d lost his father, terrified that he’d leave her as well. The knowledge only served to make him resent his father more.

One day, a fight he picked with one of the other boys from his hometown went too far. The last thing Spencer ever wanted was to really hurt someone but, in a fit of anger, that was exactly what he did. The punch Spencer delivered to the boy he was fighting shouldn’t have been fatal, but somehow Spencer’s touch caused the boy’s skin to turn black and his skull to collapse. Terrified and guilt-ridden, Spencer rushed to his mother’s house in a panic, apologizing over and over again for what he’d done. The boy’s father was a powerful politician, and Spencer knew the family wouldn’t rest until he faced the harshest possible punishment for his actions. Spencer’s mother assured him that she would take care of it.

She packed their things in a hurry, grabbing everything she could carry and dragging Spencer out of the house before daylight. He never asked where they were going, too terrified of what she might say. They left their home in Greece and fled to the United States, where his mother secured new identities for the both of them. Though he was still terrified of being caught, Spencer settled into his new life with a cautious ease. Slowly, he distanced his mind from what he’d done, allowing himself to move on. Still, he found it difficult to forgive his actions. He was desperate to balance the scales, yearning to find some way to make up for the pain he’d caused.

He was eighteen when he finally found it. An army recruiter came to his school, talking potential career paths with Spencer and his classmates. Immediately, Spencer felt drawn to the idea of combat, the familiar yearning for violence rearing its head once again. When the recruiter mentioned the need for medics, Spencer was sold. With this path, he figured he could ease his need for violence and make up for what he’d done all at once. His mother, while hesitant at first, eventually agreed, helping him fill out the paperwork and seeing him off as he left for basic with the same support she’d always shown him.

Spencer excelled in the army. The skills his father had taught him put him far above the other recruits, and his drive and determination put him over the top. Spencer was hardly surprised when he was one of only two members of his unit to be offered a spot in a prestigious special forces training, and he took it with little hesitation. The training was gruelling, but Spencer knew it would be worth it in the end.

Eventually, he graduated from training and was placed on a Ranger squad as a medic. His squad often found themselves placed in the midst of combat, something Spencer loved. He felt oddly at home among the gunfire, and he found he had an affinity for healing his fellow soldiers. Oddly, their wounds always seemed to close instantly under his hands. Men who seemed to have taken fatal shots instead spent a few days recovering from grazes. Spencer thought little of it, writing it off as natural talent.

When a few men in Spencer’s unit fell behind enemy lines in battle, Spencer was ordered to stay back. The unit was told to cut their losses and abandon their fellow soldiers, their commander sure that the men were already dead. Spencer, who’d inherited his mother’s soft heart, refused to accept the order. Not wanting to get the rest of his unit into trouble, he snuck out of his tent in the dead of night and stormed the enemy encampment on his own. Struck by several bullets, Spencer was sure he’d bleed out before he found his men, but he didn’t let it stop him. He continued running through the camp, shooting anyone he saw and searching for his men. Only one of them was still alive when he found them, but he carried him out of enemy territory on his back all the same. He made it nearly back to camp before collapsing, sure that he would die there.

The next day, he awoke to find both himself and his man still breathing. His clothes were covered in blood and riddled with bullet holes, but he had no visible wounds. His fellow soldier’s wounds healed under his touch just as they always did but, without the chaos of battle raging around him, Spencer got a better look at the process. He realized there was something very strange about it all and, remembering the boy he’d killed back in Greece and the way his skull had caved in despite the lack of force behind Spencer’s punch, wondered if there might be something strange about him as well.

When Spencer’s CO found him and the man he’d rescued, Spencer was still reeling from the discovery. The CO was relieved to find his medic alive, though angry that his orders had been disobeyed. After some discussion among the higher ups, Spencer was honorably discharged from the Rangers and sent home.

IN A WORLD RULED BY THE DEAD,

Name: Xavier Acosta

Species: Human

Age: 27

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Caio Castro

Position: Negotiator/Scout

WE ARE FORCED TO START LIVING.

Born to a young couple who had no real idea how to raise a child, Xavier Acosta became familiar with struggle at a young age. Entirely unprepared for parenthood, his mother and father tried their best to give him the life they believed he deserved, but the odds seemed stacked against him. Without money to afford child care, they couldn’t go to college. Without college degrees, they couldn’t get high-paying jobs that would allow them the money they needed for child care. It was an endless cycle, one that repeated itself over and over again.

Things only got worse when Xavier was a teenager. His mother fell suddenly ill and, without insurance to cover her treatment plan, his father spent all the money they had socked away and then some to cover her doctor’s appointments. In the end, it was all for nothing. Xavier’s mother died senselessly when money ran out, killed by a disease they could have easily treated had they had insurance.

Frustrated by the turn of events, Xavier began acting out in school. His teachers were sympathetic to his situation but eventually, sympathy gave way to frustration. His teachers informed his father that if he didn’t clean up his act, Xavier would be asked to leave the school. His father, already dealing with the loss of his wife and the monetary problems that came with her illness, grew angry with Xavier as the behavior continued, often screaming at him in desperation to scare him into being more reasonable. Nothing seemed to work and, true to their word, the school eventually expelled him. Not wanting to bother with his father’s disappointment, Xavier simply didn’t go home. Instead, he jumped on a bus and left, not stopping until he was a few states over.

With little money to his name and no real education to speak of, Xavier didn’t have a lot of options. He knew he didn’t want to go home, so he did everything in his power to avoid it. He took a minimum wage job at a restaurant, got another at a retail store. He had no real experience, but he discovered he did have a penchant for sweet talking that could land him just about any job he wanted within reason. He used his charm to work his way up at his jobs, gaining management positions at both.

As it turned out, working his way up was far more fun than actually doing the work involved with management positions. Xavier found himself bored nearly constantly at work. One day, he decided he was done with work altogether and, rather than calling in to tell his boss he’d quit, he left the city once again. As it turned out, it was a choice that saved his life. Mere hours after Xavier abandoned his city, it was overrun entirely by zombies. There were few survivors, and Xavier doubted that he would have been one of them had he gone to his shift that day.

He wandered around the countryside alone for some time, sticking with his car until it ran out of gas and then walking where he could. Eventually, he ran into a group of men and, with the help of his natural charm, talked them into accepting him into their group. The men were brutal, but they seemed to understand how to survive. They were more prepared for the new world than Xavier had ever been, and they taught him a few things about how to keep himself alive.

Unfortunately, the things they taught weren’t particularly moral. The men got what they needed by taking it, killing and stealing even when it wasn’t actually necessary. Not wanting to risk the consequences of going against them, Xavier went along with the violence, rationalizing it in his head as the new world order.

It was only a matter of time before Xavier’s new group met more resistance than they could handle. When facing off against another group, they weren’t prepared for their opponents to fight back. The resulting fight was bloody, and when a hoard of zombies came in in the middle of it all, it seemed like a lost cause. Xavier watched as both his group and the group they were attempting to steal from were slaughtered, both by each other and by the undead.

Though he was badly injured in the fight, Xavier managed to escape with his life. He found that he was the only one who did so from either group. He likely would have died had a doctor not stumbled upon him. Desperate for help and not wanting to make himself look bad, Xavier told her that he was part of the group that had been attacked in an attempt to gain sympathy. The attempt was successful, and the doctor tended to his wounds and stuck by him for some time. Eventually, Xavier and the doctor were separated and though he looked for her briefly, he had little hope of finding her again and instead went on his way.

When he met the remaining Gods, the answer had been obvious. Mount Olympus had been home to each and every one of them, naturally it would demand a combined effort of the Olympians to once again open the mountain, and in turn, their sanctuary. Isaiah patiently waited for them to realize who they truly were, and once the majority seemed aware, he proposed an expedition to the mountain.

As a group, they arrived at Mount Olympus and immediately, the mountain began forming into something else. Isaiah watched with wide eyes a kingdom was created, engraved in the side of the mountain, and it was stunning. Numerous temples were before them, and on each side of their kingdom, a statue of a God was formed. Each and every one of them -- minus Persephone, Isaiah noted, amused -- was represented. Waterfalls burst from the rock and Isaiah knew intrinsically when they were safe to proceed up the mountain.

Once they arrived at the top, Isaiah surveyed all of his friends with a bright smile. “Welcome home,” he said, “It’s time to rule as Gods.” As exciting as it was, with the overwhelming sense of belonging and the gorgeous sights, Isaiah knew that they were not reincarnated without purpose. Eventually he and his fellow Gods would realize what had changed in the world, but until then, Isaiah intended to bask in the glory of Mount Olympus.  “Our first order of business should be sorting rooms,” Isaiah mused. “I think the statues around the palace will make that clear.” Solely for theatrics, he allowed a boom of thunder and lightning to light the sky, announcing to all of Greece that the Greek Gods were once again thriving.

------

IN A WORLD RULED BY THE DEAD,

Name: Romeo Cravotta

Species: Human

Age: 27

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Luke Pasqualino

Position: Enforcer

WE ARE FORCED TO START LIVING.

To tourists passing through on their way to the grand beaches of Messina, the small town of Africo seemed an idyllic place to grow up and live, close to giant turtles emerging from the waters in dead of night, or bronze sculptures rising from the ocean to greet them, remnants of the vast history contained within their country. Of course, Romeo learned young that appearances were often deceptive. Africo’s shining veneer hid a far more sinister reality. In fact, it was brought to people’s attention only because it was deemed the poorest town in all of Italy. Romeo was fourteen years old and walking back from school when he was first approached by the Mafioso, and when he returned home shaken, his mother chastised him for not grasping such an opportunity when it presented itself. Perhaps it was that first childish mistake that condemned the Cravotta family, or maybe it was Romeo’s father’s penchant for gambling, borrowing money off anyone who would lend it, but the Cravottas became known in Africo for being cursed. Born the fourth child of six, Romeo quickly became the oldest son of the family. His brother, Ezio, was the first to die in suspicious circumstances, his body found on the beach by the town fishermen. After, Caro drove drunk, high or both, killing himself and Romeo’s older sister, Alessandra. Matteo and Marius, despite trying desperately to find honest work, found themselves taking up the offer that Romeo had refused as a child, joining the Mafioso and succumbing because of it. By the time Romeo was eighteen years old, it was only him and his mother, Carina, left in their family home, his father long since vanished after a debt was called in by the local sharks.

The future had always been bleak, but Romeo did not let it deter him. Due to his brothers’ valiant service (a term that Romeo was sickened to even repeat), the Mafioso paid the grieving family - or what was left of them - a small sum of cash. Carina was determined to use it to buy their home outright, but Romeo looked further afield. He invested the money instead, letting him and his mother continue to live in poverty for several years, but when the returns came back, he was able to bring himself and Carina to Georgia in the United States. Carina had never been happier, or prouder of one of her children, and Romeo worked himself to the bone in various cleaning and serving jobs to keep a roof over their heads. Even the most rundown of apartments was a leap up from where they had been, and Carina continued to remind her son of all he had accomplished.

Of course, even on the other side of the world, the Cravotta family luck continued to be less than favourable. Carina was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and no amount of money - not that they had it regardless - would lead to a cure. Before she died, Carina made Romeo promise that he would follow the dream that he had since he was a child and join the police force. Doubting that it was possible, but wanting his mother to be happy, Romeo agreed. After her funeral, Romeo decided to make good on that promise, however the police force weren’t exactly jumping for joy when he arrived on their doorstep. Romeo had to almost beg to even be given a chance to complete the fitness and aptitude tests, but when he did, he more than proved he was worth taking a chance on.

Starting off as a lowly traffic cop, Romeo excelled and moved through the ranks quicker than almost anyone else had before. He had a unique insight to crime, after all, the fundamentals of which were universal, and he used it to his advantage. Years of grinding and insider information meant that Romeo was promoted to detective, though he remained in that post for only a few months before one of his colleagues approached him, holding up newspaper articles that had haunted Romeo since Africo. He questioned why Romeo had not volunteered information about the suspicious circumstances of his entire family, and rather than fighting back against the accusations, the chief of police had Romeo’s resignation on his desk by the end of the week.

Once again, Romeo had absolutely no idea what he was going to do with his life, but he knew he wasn’t returning to Italy. In a twist of fate that he initially thought was to his advantage for once, he was approached by an influential politician and esteemed businessman, specialising in biotechnology. Spencer Amon outlined how impressed he had been with Romeo’s involvement in a police raid of one of his competitors, found to be participating in white collar crime. He mused whether Romeo, with his unique insight, might be able to prevent a similar raid from occurring on Amon Industries and, immediately picking up on the insinuation, Romeo refused.

Of course, integrity only went so far. When Romeo returned home to his empty apartment, he wondered what the hell he was continuing to fight for - he was born for a life of covering shit up, and he could earn a lot more money doing it here than in Africo. He returned to Amon, agreed to his terms, and became an extremely successful private protection agent, with the privilege of being allowed into some of the most sensitive meetings in the country. Amon, along with several others in positions of power, were interested in creating a virus aimed at erasing populations they saw as dragging society down. Romeo was good at pretending to agree, though inside he was disgusted. He told himself it was just a job, but the stress moved to his private life, impacting on his relationship and his friends. When the virus was actually released and zombies began to take over the country he had once seen as a place of dreams and opportunity, that was the final straw.

IN A WORLD RULED BY THE DEAD,

Name: Mila Yüksel

Species: Human

Age: 26

Gender: Cis-female

Faceclaim: Melisa Pamuk

Position: Medical specialist

WE ARE FORCED TO START LIVING.

Growing up in a very large and busy household, filled with Mila’s mother, aunts and their mutual friends, she was always surrounded by loving, strong women. The youngest in her family -- and Mila’s mother, Ela, was the only one who had a child -- she was always doted upon. Her aunts spoiled her with attention and taught her everything they knew about language, spiritualism and of course, they helped her with her homework. A genius from a young age, Mila rarely tried throughout her school years, but effortlessly picked up information. Her aunt, Aiyla, always claimed that was due to her spiritual connection.

Despite the love Mila was surrounded by, spiritualism was always of the utmost importance. However, they were not a Catholic household, nor a Christian one. Instead, they celebrated the mystical world of Wicca. They celebrated Suhain, Ostara and Yule. Mila never entirely resonated with the religion, never one to believe in deities, but she did pick up on several of their traditions. She always left herbs and crystals near her room, she absolutely loved tarot -- and had a real gift for it -- and when she was feeling particularly reckless, she would contact the deceased spirit of her father, though it never worked. Her mother threw a conniption every single time she it and every time, it ended with a cleanse of energy, but Mila had always been fiercely independent, brash and arrogant, never once believing that she was remotely defeatable.

School continued to be a breeze for Mila and with excellent grades, she received a scholarship into medical school. Her aunts and mother rejoiced, throwing a huge party, where all of Mila’s friends were invited. Finally, medical school challenged Mila, but she persisted, believing strongly in medicine. It went against her family’s beliefs in many ways -- they preferred naturopathy -- but they supported her nonetheless. Mila was never entirely sure what drew her to medicine, it was instinctual, a challenge worthy of her brain and endless motivation.

Medical school came with trials and tribulations for Mila. Where everything else in her life had been easy, this was not. She struggled with some of the assignments, her attitude was relentless, believing herself capable, and she was never afraid to fight for what she deserved. As a result, Mila made several friends, but only one of them she cared deeply about. Alexis was an incredible woman, equally as stubborn, and she wasn’t afraid of Mila’s intensity. They balanced each other out and for the first time, Mila found herself genuinely adoring someone that was not in her family.

Their friendship lasted when they went into residency, although they were in different cities. They Skyped every night, ensured to meet up every few months, and life went on. Residency was where Mila flourished, meeting new people and finally, finally learning to perform surgeries. Eventually, Mila decided to specialize in trauma and ortho.

Unfortunately, the high only lasted for two years and a bit. When the apocalypse came, Mila was in the middle of a surgery and the outbreak was horrific in the hospital. Surrounded by zombies, she lived solely because of her willpower, fighting through the crowd alongside some of the doctors she had gotten to know. When the cellphone towers went down, Mila rushed home and found Alexis who was visiting scratched. The turn was sudden, and Mila, always a fighter refused to die, even at the hands of her best friend. She shot Alexis, making her it wouldn’t be fatal, and it was something Mila never believed she would forgive herself for. Posted up outside, Mila watched Alexis stumble out of the apartment, bloody but living and in that moment, Mila swore to herself that she would cure the zombie virus.

Two weeks later, Mila was inside the woods near Atlanta, Georgia, and she quickly found that surviving alone was difficult. Thankfully, she found a fellow survivor in her travels, and though they were injured, it was nothing that Mila couldn’t handle. Once they were healed, they spent time traveling together, but like everyone in the apocalypse, they separated. Mila learned that living alone was pretty much the only way to survive.

IN A WORLD RULED BY THE DEAD,

Name: Malcolm “Mal” Kalsi

Species: Human

Age: 27

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Shazad Latif

Position: Engineer

WE ARE FORCED TO START LIVING.

In life, there are few guarantees. The only thing you could count on, the only thing that always remained true about life, was that one day it would end. That was the philosophy Malcolm Kalsi was raised on. Paranoid and easily influenced by dark news stories and conspiracy theories, Mal’s father, Aamir, constantly believed the world to be ending. He passed his teachings on to his children, constantly informing both Mal and his sister that the world would end one day and preparing them for the aftermath.

Young and impressionable, both siblings took their father’s words to heart entirely. While Mal’s sister prepared to the extent that she believed herself ‘ready’ for the end of the world, Mal found himself terrified of what it might entail. Where his sister was a fighter, training constantly so that she was physically skilled in combat, Mal was a more intellectual man, focusing more on learning and taking in new information.

Despite their differences, Mal and his sister were close. Mal knew that, when the apocalypse came, he’d have his sister at his side. It wasn’t as good as being utterly prepared himself, a fact his father reminded him of constantly, but it was something. And, in the meantime, Mal could prepare in his own ways. He went to college on a scholarship, honing his intelligence and studying engineering. He learned how to work with generators, learned how to repair cars and other things that might be useful when the world finally ended. He excelled in his field, his determination to prove to his father that he could be worth something even without his sister’s physical prowess driving him forward.

By the time he graduated from college, Mal had no shortage of job offers. He took one as a government contractor, figuring that being close to the government would provide him with ample warning when the apocalypse came. After all, if anyone knew about the end of the world, it was going to be the people in charge of it. Mal kept in close contact with his family as he worked, even on days when he went straight from his office to his bed. It was another aspect of his father’s survivalist training --- if you wanted to save someone, you had to know where they were at all times.

It was because of this close contact that Mal received news of his father’s illness immediately after he was diagnosed. His sister called him from the hospital sounding exhausted and explained that their father was sick and that the diagnosis was a terminal one. There was a bitter rivalry about it; Aamir had spent his entire life preparing for the end of the world, expecting the apocalypse to kill him, and instead of suffering through it, he’d die of mundane causes. Mal was heartbroken at the news, knowing that he’d never be able to prove his usefulness to his father before the man’s death. Desperate to prove something, he threw himself into his work with even more intensity.

Thanks to his newfound drive, Mal rose through the ranks at his employer quickly, and with his reputation preceding him, his firm was requested for more and more government work with Mal specifically requested for the jobs. He learned to listen to the people around him, to take in what they said and learn from it. It was because of this that he learned about a plan to unleash a virus that was designed to thin the herd of poor people throughout the country. Mal knew enough about the world’s end to recognize it when he saw it. Aware that there was no way the plan could end well, he sent word to his sister to begin preparing in earnest with little explanation as to why. His sister, accustomed to such warnings from their father, followed it without question.

On the day the apocalypse finally happened, Mal and the Kalsi family should have been ready. They’d been preparing for this very event for years, had a few weeks warning. But Mal learned that there was a difference in knowing something was going to happen and actually seeing it occur. The zombies were terrifying, and in the short trip to his father’s house, he witnessed more death than he’d ever imagined before.

When he finally made it to his father’s house, there was no one there. A note left by his sister on the counter indicated that their father’s disease had progressed with unexpected speed, and he’d been rushed to the hospital. Desperate to find his family, Mal went to the hospital only to find it overrun, having largely been ground zero for the virus. With the waves of undead pouring from the doors, Mal had no time to search for his father or his sister but, in his heart, he knew it wouldn’t have mattered. No one, not even someone as prepared as his family, could have survived the sheer number of zombies that overtook the building.

COME ON, GANG,

Name: Velma Dinkley

Species: Human

Age: 23

Gender: Cis-female

Faceclaim: Kiersey Clemons

Occupation: Private detective at Mystery Inc.

WE’VE GOT A MYSTERY TO SOLVE.

Though both considered very intelligent young people, Dale and Angie Dinkley were never renowned throughout the town of Coolsville for making decisions that reflected their intelligence in their personal lives. They were, like many teenagers, reckless and impulsive, and when Angie found herself pregnant just before high school graduation, no one was particularly surprised. They were surprised when the Dinkleys decided to keep the baby, getting married just after getting their diplomas.

For a time, things were as well as could be expected in the Dinkley household. Angie worked as a waitress while Dale went to school, both looking to support their daughter Velma in any way possible. As time went on, however, Angie grew tired of working, feeling as though she’d given up her own dreams in order to support Dale’s. One day, with no warning, she left her husband alone with their daughter and never returned.

By that time, Dale was nearly finished with his degree. His intention had been to continue on and gain a doctorate in order to get the largest salary possible but with a daughter to raise and no way to pay for childcare, that suddenly became impossible. Instead, he took his degree and accepted a job as a college professor, making far less money than he’d hoped but still enough to scrape by on.

As Velma grew, her father made sure to instill a love of learning within her. The bedtime stories he told her were educational with lessons to be learned at the end, and the cheap gifts he could afford were always ones that could be applied to learning more. Velma loved her father and, when she found that expressing her intelligence made him proud, she sought to do it in any way possible.

Velma became aware of her father’s financial woes fairly young, and the idea that he was struggling because of her was not one she enjoyed. She took up a part-time job the second she was old enough, using the money to help pay bills around the house in spite of her father’s protests. All the while she worked tirelessly to achieve near-perfect grades in order to ensure that, should she decide to go to college, tuition money would not be an issue.

When she met a group of kids her age who understood her, Velma began hanging out with them often. When she wasn’t at work or at home, she was with them. Dale was entirely supportive of the development, relieved that his daughter had people who understood her.

The idea of Mystery Incorporated didn’t start out as anything serious but, after a few discussions, Velma began to realize that it was something they were all very much interested in. After thoroughly going through the details among themselves, the group realized that it was something they were passionate about. They pooled their money together to buy a van to use as a headquarters, and that was that. Velma felt good about what they were doing, excited to be able to use her intelligence to help people. She found that solving mysteries was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life, and doing it alongside her best friends in the world made it all the better.

COME ON, GANG,

Name: Frederick ‘Fred’ Jones

Species: Human

Age: 25

Gender: Cis-male

Faceclaim: Austin Butler

Occupation: Private detective at Mystery Inc.

WE’VE GOT A MYSTERY TO SOLVE.

The Jones family have always been well known in Coolsville, partly for the fact that Frederick Jones Sr. managed to successfully achieve a position as the town mayor, and mostly because there are just so many of them. Fred is the only son of Frederick ‘Skip’ Jones and Peggy, although with both of his parents preoccupied with their careers - his father as the mayor of Coolsville and his mother as a successful author specialising in murder mysteries - Fred learned early on how to keep himself occupied independently, or going to one of his many uncles for suggestions on how to fill his days. His natural enthusiasm and curiosity meant that he was frequently welcomed into groups and clubs throughout the town, even if he wasn’t particularly proficient in the skills and activities they were practicing, though he did find he had a natural talent for athletics.

When Fred moved into middle school, he finally discovered what his mother affectionately coined his calling. It all started in the summer he spent with his uncle Eddie Jones, the editor of a locally-based magazine entitled The National Exaggerator. Although his uncle was far more interested in the sensationalism of Coolsville based paranormal stories, Fred became fascinated with gathering proof that entities such as ghosts, werewolves and vampires existed. He began to take more and more shop classes, focusing heavily on engineering, and invented many traps to go into the woods with. His little sister Molly, four years his junior, was absolutely terrified about the prospect of monsters under her bed, and couldn’t understand why Fred wanted to prove that they could exist. Fred immediately explained to her that if monsters did exist, then they were just like anything else that lived and moved and breathed, and they could be outsmarted and outmatched as required.

Fred’s determination to be the protector in any way that he could only furthered the determination he had in his mission, though in school, Fred continued to pursue more mainstream interests. He became popular, and developed many friendships. There were none that truly stuck or meant anything, however, until he reached high school, and he gathered a small group of friends that were always more than willing to come with him on any adventure that he desired. They were there when he was acting as the school quarterback, cheering him on from the stands, and they were with him when he talked late into the night about the Loch Ness monster and various conspiracy theories. It was an understanding and acceptance that Fred had never experienced before, and he ran with it for all it was worth.