#all43intro

i present to you, a grumpy, stubborn, closeted little journalist. Barrell O Fun. Pre The Academy: 

She was a born to a reasonably happy home in Suburbia. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad. It was just pretty average. It fostered a lot of her intrigue with the extraordinary, and also the fact she thinks she’s permanently the most interesting person in the room. ( It’s incredibly arrogant, but she’s been told it makes her pretty good at her job. She can sell actually any headline just because she thinks it’s interesting. ) 

She grew up with a cousin of hers, and they were close, before she moved away for college. They were close, and they still are, but Jen doesn’t do particularly well with keeping in touch. Or people, period.

She’s never been particularly good at making friends, and her romantic relationships were even worse. She hasn’t connected that her romantic failings can be somewhat attributed to her sexuality, she just thinks she doesn’t have it in her to fall in love or be loved in return. Which she’s totally fine with, obviously. ( Doesn’t keep her up at night at all. Obviously. ) So as a result she’s just decided to put up a front of hating everything and everyone so they don’t approach her. ( She’s such a cliche, good heavens. )  Present/The Academy:

Being a member of the press, Jennifer’s been familiar with the Academy for a while. She doesn’t know quite what to make of them, and that’s what intrigues her. She’s treating them like a project or an assignment essentially, just one she’s taking way too far.There’s a lot about the idea of being extraordinary that intrigues and terrifies her at the same time. 

Her arrogance has meant she’s always considered herself some what extraordinary, at what she does at least, and now her job is forcing her to confront people with extraordinary and borderline supernatural means at their disposal.It perturbs her if she thinks about it for too long, so she chooses not to. 

my one ( 1 ) good, happy character that i’ve been told i’m not allowed to damage. warning that his fc may change if the original one i planned on ever gets a decent supply of gifs.

only his parents call him jethro, and only when he’s in trouble. will introduce himself as jet 100% of the time. fun fact - his full name is jethro beauregard wyatt.

his occupation on the app being “cowboy” was only partially a joke - its what he is, who he is. 10/10 would love to be back home on the ranch.

not a fan of city life in general, really not a fan big city life and doesn’t understand why anyone would want to live here, but when a friend asked him to help them move across the country he wasn’t about to say no. 

he’s got three dogs, but two of them stayed back home with his parents on the ranch - the one that’s with him is a one year old catahoula leopard dog named lady.

very likely to flirt, a fan of one night stands and fwb situations, not interested in committing himself to a relationship - is very up front about it. 

always willing to help in whatever way he can.

doesn’t judge - like to the point that it’s probably a problem. 

currently crashing on his friend’s couch, planning on heading home soon but if he finds out about the whole apocalypse thing he might just have to stick around and help as best as he can.

guess  who’s  back ,   back  again  maevy’s  back !   anyway  hey  what’s  up  you  guys  my  name’s  emily   &   i’m  from  the  cold  midwest .   i  work  super  weird ,   long  hours ,   but  i  try  my  best  to  be  here  as  much  as  possible .   if  you  have  any  questions  or  wanna  plot ,   go  ahead   &   hmu !   &   oh  shit ,   we  got  a  lot  to  change   &   go  over  so  hear  me  out   :

BULLETPOINTS   :

+   born  in  melbourne  to  trash  who  didn’t  want  her .   this  stuck  with  her  throughout  life .   she  was  constantly  in   &   out  of  foster  homes   &   orphanages  that  didn’t  want  her ,   all  up  until  she  was  a  teenager . +   eventually  she  got  a  modeling  contract   &   it  was  finally  her  time  to  get  the  hell  out  of  dodge   &   head  to  america ,   which  she  did  when  she  was  seventeen . +   it  was  once  she  got  to  america  that  she  learned  about  others  like  herself .   all  born  on  the  same  day  under  the  same  circumstance .   she  looked  into  it . +   basically  a  stalker  of  the  umbrella  academy  tbh .   i  know  that  sounds  weird ,   but  she  knows  how  her  powers  work  now   &   was  able  to  do  that  by  her  own  within  radius  of  the  others . +   so  basically  if  the  first  seven  know  her  face ,   they  probably  didn’t  know  her  real  name  at  first . +   knows  her  capabilities  when  it  comes  to  get  ability   &   knows  she’s  awesome   &   extraordinary . +   probably  pisses  people  off  because  she’s  so  good  with  her  power . +   maeve  has  a  shit  load  of  trust  issues . +   obviously  lets  people  step  all  over  her   &   is  too  kind   &   caring  all  for  the  simple  fact  that  she  wants  someone  to  want  her  for  once  unlike  her  parents ,   foster  parents ,   &   boyfriends   &   girlfriends . +   a  brat .   a  stubborn ,   terrible  brat . +   super  nice   &   caring  tbh . +   thanks  to  her  past  she  has  a  bit  of  a  drinking  problem   &   dabbles  into  drugs  every  once  in  awhile  when  she  feels  the  need  to  be  numb   &   out  of  loop .

hey hi hello everyone!  back at it again with a new muse.  this is my trash son, emrys/rhys, and i hope you guys like him skgshsgss.  hmu here or on discord if you want to plot !!

       TW: description of war, PTSD, description of violence, alcoholism. 

&. basics

full name: emrys arlo cross

nicknames: rhys, cross

age: 29

sexuality:  bisexual

relationship status: single

date of birth: october 1

place of birth:  reno, NV

gender & species: cismale, enhanced humanoid(?)

current location:  brooklyn, ny

&. more basic info

languages: english, french, spanish.

religion: christian - united

education: high school diploma, 12 weeks at the police academy, 1 year EMT-B training. 

military service: 3 years active duty, 2 years desk duty.  

occupation: personal security / paramedic / EMT

drinks, smokes, & drugs: no, yes, no.

&. personality

zodiac sign: ( references: one, two ) libra

mbti: ( reference link ) intj

likes:  breakfast for dinner, pokemon go, board games, trashy romance novels, game of thrones, motorcycles, crossword puzzles.

dislikes:  city driving, the bar scene, city traffic, jaywalking, ebooks, coffee, sour candy. 

bad habits:  neurotic over-analyzing

secret talent:  he can recite the entire ‘ to be or not to be ‘ monologue from hamlet 

hobbies: restoring classic cars, doing puzzles. 

fears: persecution, loss of loved ones, discovery of his abilities on a broad scale.

five positive traits: determined, honest, loyal, resourceful & strong-willed.

five negative traits: standoffish, reserved, indecisive, stubborn.

other mentionable details:   rhys is a recovering alcoholic.  he has been sober for about a year. he went through AA and attributes his sobriety to the program. 

&. appearance

tattoos: n/a

piercings: n/a

faceclaim: sam claflin

&. family information

parent names: sarah & serena cross ( birth mom: arlo cross )

parent relationship:  rhys is close to all of his mothers.  his birth mother arlo was 18 years old when she gave birth to him.  as such, her older sister sarah ( and her wife serena ) legally adopted him.  he was raised by all three women, though his birth mother was more of an aunt figure than a mother. 

sibling names:  he has a younger half sister and a half brother.  his sister is 8 years younger than him, and his brother is 6 years younger.  

sibling relationship: rhys tried to stay in contact with his siblings, even when life took him out of NV, but it wasn’t always easy.  the three siblings are closer now that they’re adults but as kids they weren’t the closest. 

other relevant relative: uncle ( arlo’s husband ), and a sister-in-law ( married to his younger brother )

children: n/a

significant other / spouse: n/a

pets: n/a

&. biography

        emrys was born on the rainiest day of the season.  his mother was at home, watching television, when he arrived.  to say the cross family were shocked would have been an understatement.  since arlo was only 18 years old, her older sister sarah ( + her wife serena ) agreed to adopt the baby.  arlo knew she wanted kids, knew she felt some sort of love for this baby that had been placed in her arms, but at 18 she knew that she wasn’t ready.  so serena and sarah moved in nearby, arlo played the role of doting aunt, and the three ladies raised emrys — or rhys, as he preferred to be called — to be the strong, loving, and kind person he turned out to be.  

     at 18 years old, rhys surprised his entire family by announcing his intention to enlist in the army.  when the twin towers fell in 2001, rhys could remember the way his stomach plummeted.  seeing such devastation on US soil, seeing a country in ruin, stuck with him even at a young age.  he joined ROTC in high school and eventually went on to enlist in the army.  he made it through basic training and was deployed in iraq for 2 years before an injury saw him medevaced home.  he spent the greater part of the next year recovering from a blast that had nearly killed him when his convoy was attacked.  as one of the only survivors, rhys lived with a lot of survivor’s guilt and struggled to find his place.  he finished out his desk duty and left the army on good terms.  he was officially diagnosed with PTSD and made the choice to move away from nevada to start over.

     so here’s the thing about rhys’ powers.  they didn’t manifest until late in life.  like, very late.  there were a few moments when he was younger that strange things happened, things he couldn’t explain, but when he TRIED to replicate what had happened ?  nothing.  it was only when pieces of shrapnel were about to rip through his face that he was able to throw his hands up, the pieces halting in mid-air as he was thrown through the window of their military vehicle.  his back was ripped to shreds, pain nearly suffocating him.  but he was alive.  he was alive, and they were dead.  somehow, he’d managed to stop the shrapnel from hitting him, long enough to crawl out of the wreckage and the line of fire.  it was there, on his stomach, that he wondered if this was god’s mercy or god’s wrath.  he’d been given the ability to save himself, but not to save the others.  it was too late for them.  it didn’t seem fair.  

     but new york was a fresh start.  new york didn’t remind him of the funerals, of flags handed over to grieving families while his own rejoiced that he was alive.  he’d survived, but alive wasn’t something he necessarily felt.  new york was an opportunity to do things better;  to be better.  so he decided to figure out what the FUCK these powers were and how he could use them to help people.  he enrolled in the police academy but ended up leaving the program.  it was more politics than he wanted to deal with and he knew there were more efficient ways he could use his powers - and his skills - to help people.  he ended up taking a temporary job as personal security for a tech guru and ended up enjoying the job so much he deferred education for over a year.  then he scaled back to part-time while he studied to be an EMT and completed the training program.  currently he is a paramedic / EMT in new york and has an apartment in brooklyn.  i say he has an apartment  but he spends most of his time working, at the gym, or picking up extra shifts and hours as part of ariella bellefleur’s personal security team.

heyo this loser a mess, just like all of my kids.

TW: drug mention, murder mention, general crime mention? all towards the end.

so this is john, or johnny if he likes you enough. he’s the second son of a second son, which basically means he was never expected to amount to much as far as his family was concerned.

his grandfather was still very much the head of their family - a marine that became a lawyer. his grandmother had been every bit the stereotypical housewife and stay at home mom. his uncle had been born first, was clearly the favorite child. his dad had come next, then his aunt.

his father had repeated his grandfather’s mistakes - flaunted his eldest son and his achievements while constantly berating john for not being more like his brother.

unlike his father, john didn’t care about winning the approval of a man that clearly didn’t give a shit, and instead sought out his own path.

he was still a kid the first time he picked a pocket, twelve years old and thrilled to find that it’d gone so well. he was clever, careful, and fast enough to get away if something went a little sideways.

he was fourteen when he came to the attention of a local gang and the rest, as they say, is history.

for the longest time he was pretty content with the low level stuff - he wanted to rise up the ranks, but at the end of the day he was good where he was because there’s no better place to make connections than at the bottom.

he was 19 when he met maryse, living in a small but well loved apartment. he fell hard and fast and never once bothered denying it.

he didn’t hide his work from her - he was good at what he did and it was a big part of his life and he wasn’t about to lie about it.

unfortunately nothing good ever seems to last forever, and when he got the chance to start climbing through the ranks, he took it and didn’t look back - he wanted to be able to give her the world, and having the power that came with running his own criminal organization seemed like a good start.

he did somethings he’d eventually come to regret - namely manipulating maryse into honing her abilities. part of him really did believe it was helping her, but it benefitted his work more than it did her. and then he pushed too far.

he only realized how badly he’d messed up when she vanished without a word, leaving behind her engagement ring. part of him still holds out hope that she’ll forgive him, but he’s not entirely sure he deserves it.

he’d had everything, was finally on top, but losing her hit him hard. he didn’t lose his edge, though - if anything it was sharper.

his organization is a many faceted thing, ranging from stolen goods to drugs to loans to assassinations. they’re good at what they do, good enough that they generally don’t get caught and don’t say a word if they do.

very much a charismatic man, but very few have ever seen what he’s truly like.

loves to cook??? so much??? also enjoys vehicle restorations. used to play the guitar ( and even sing a bit ) but only ever did so around one person.

has a line he won’t cross, though it’s not always clear to outsiders where exactly that line is.

(As already mentioned in the plot) Klaus remained to be Klaus. While he at first tried his best to work with and enjoy the new chance they’ve been given, the burden of his abilities and the hard controlling ways of Sir Reginald soon catched up to Klaus again and for him it was almost as if time simply repeated itself. As it turned out, God did not seem to like him much in this time line either. With the news of their father dying again and Five finding many more bodies dying with them this time around, Klaus is trying his best to be of as much help to his siblngs (old and new) as he can, which means he’s sobering up and trying to work his way around his powers without simply numbing them and maybe even work out some new features. He’s always been very protective of his siblings, and that feeling only grows with the new ones around. He felt guilty about what had happened with Vanya back the first time around and will do whatever he can to make sure non of it happens again, so as soon as they find the other 36 he tries to help them any way he can, be it with their powers or any other situation.

basics

Name: Klaus Hargreeves

Number: Four

Birthday: October 1989

Age: 30 (31 if you count the year in Vietnam, and god knows how old if you count the jump back into this new timeline)

Gender: Non-Binary (he/him pronouns mostly)

Occupation: -

Lives: Ben’s Place, Hargreeves Mansion, or wherever else he can find a place to stay

Ability: Interacting with the dead

Pinterest Board:  ~click here~

head-canons (basic stuff)

While going back in time and into a new timeline in which they all turned into children again, basically gave Klaus a new clean body to work with, his mind still suffered from the withdrawals of his drugs and alcohol, and also with the PTSD from fighting in Vietnam tho

That and the fact that their father was suddenly around and all prominent in their lifes again, had Klaus turn back to his pills and coping mechanisms rather sooner than later unfortunately

He wanted nothing more than make use of the fact that he was sober and try to contact Dave as soon as they were sure the jump back in time had worked out, but ended up too scared of what would happen if he 1) wouldn’t be able to reach him because he was too weak, 2) would be able to reach him and face him as a teen or 3) would be able to reach him but he wouldn’t recognise him because Klaus hadn’t been in Vietnam in that timeline

All of these possibilities held him back from seeing the love of his life again, and the more years passed, the more scared he got… aka yet another reason to numb his brain

However, Klaus did try to work on his other new abilities, with which he could manifest the dead and have them interact with the living world, like he had been able to with Ben, with Ben alive though, Klaus had to try and find a new ghost buddy to test these things with and other than with Dave he hated to admit it but he was too scared to try, but he was too worried to reach out to him too so yknow, endless circle there, although Reggy made sure to let him know yet again what he thought of Number Four’s fear (’’good to know some things never change, no matter the timeline’’)

head-canons (present, fun stuff)

Over the course of the last two or so years, Klaus tried to sober up more often again, and is somewhat succeeding, finding other ways to calm his mind, only turning back to his pills when he really can’t seem to be able to calm down otherwise (getting back sober again once he did pop some pills is a whole different story though)

He’s got regular sittings with a therapist to deal with his PTSD, tho mind you it wasn’t easy to find someone that believed him when he told his story

he’s the happy owner of a black cat that is kind of an asshole to most of his siblings but would probably die for and protect Klaus at all cost

the cats name is Ursula, or Uschi for short and he honestly thinks those names are hilarious

Klaus also picked up Origami folding and has gotten quite good at it after giving up on knitting, it helps him calm his mind since he really can’t concentrate on much else while trying to figure out the folding instructions, and they make for good little presents when he sees his other siblings upset

personality

Klaus is very caring, supportive and protective of his siblings, and always tries to offer a shoulder to lean on, even if it’s not always appreciated or wanted

he’s very out there and free-spirited, doing and dressing up in things without worrying what others may think of him, encouraged by the small smiles others can’t hold back or the big disapproving huffs and puffs of old people

has life-force manipulation which means she can literally manipulate your soul, can feel the buzz of everyone's existence around her and it's stressful.

has never brought anyone back from the death, or from the brink of, but has killed two people using her ability. it kind of broke something inside her.

also has death sense which means that she can feel death coming, it makes her feel hollow and cold inside and she hates it. if someone she loves dies, she feels it in a very real, painful way.

cautionary tale as to why you shouldn't run away with pretty criminals with charming smiles who kiss you in the moonlight.

ya boy crime boss john took a perfectly nice, happy baby and made her use her powers to suck the life out of the competition. now she's 200% convinced their life together was just a lie and all he wanted to do was use her for her powers.

left that man in the middle of the night and made it really dramatic.

has been working on taking down his business, and by that i mean she's been shooting his best contacts.

trigger happy, proceed with caution.

doesn't exactly hate everyone but won't go out of her way to meet people either, unless they have alcohol.

punches things when she's bored, which is nice because she's been living on money she stole from her man so she has time on her hands.

hey hi hello everyone!  i thought my rping days were behind me but i loved TUA and decided to give this a go.  we’ll see how it works out shshshss.  i love yelling about riverdale ( so bad its kinda good ), shadowhunters, broadway, and love cats more than people and i’m super hyped to be here.  for a little more about jax, you can keep reading ~   also this is important !!! there are a lot of trigger warnings re: his past / life so i’m going to list them all here instead of in the tags at the bottom. you have been warned.   

           trigger warnings:  minor child abuse, child abandonment, domestic violence, negative self-talk, lack of self-esteem, suicidal ideation, self harm, self mutilation in the name of science, lack of self-worth, lack of self-preservation, unintentional suicide attempts, warped self image, bloodplay(ish), mentions of violence / self-violence.

        TLDR:  jax has a fucked up sense of self and likes to experiment on himself. proceed with caution i guess ???  

&. basics

full name: jackson ‘jax’ edward coyne

nicknames: jax, jaxxy, jack

age: 29

sexuality: pansexual

relationship status: single

date of birth: october 1

place of birth:  portland, me

gender & species: cismale, enhanced humanoid(?)

current location: unknown.

&. more basic info

languages: english, spanish, french. 

religion: n/a - he’s an atheist. 

education: BS degree in human biology concentration from the university of southern maine & MD from uConn school of medicine. 3 years studying to be a forensic scientist and now completing a one year residency/fellowship before getting board certified. 

occupation: forensic pathologist

drinks, smokes, & drugs: yes, no, yes.

&. personality

zodiac sign: ( references: one, two ) libra

mbti: ( reference link ) istj

likes:  emo music, pasta dishes, cats, supernatural (tv), black nail polish, coffee, true crime podcasts, greek yoghurt. 

dislikes:  socialization, herbal tea, vaping, people who don’t use their turn signals when driving, one way streets, mustard, taylor swift music, and reality tv.  

bad habits: bites his nails, picks scabs when you’re not supposed to, obsesses over getting song lyrics right, poor posture, obsessing over things that can’t be changed. 

secret talent: tattooing. he’s not licensed to do any work on anyone else, but he’s done a lot of the work on his sleeves himself.  he had his in love and death tattoo done when he was 16 and he’s been addicted ever since.  he was too broke to be able to afford constant work so he had to learn how to do it himself with a lot of trial and error.  

hobbies: listening to true crime podcasts, research, drawing/sketching, watching wrestling, boxing, studying, etc.  

fears: isolation, decision making, the future, responsibility, the truth about his origins. 

five positive traits: determined, altruistic, loyal, competitive & vulnerable

five negative traits: impetuous, cowardly, stubborn, blunt, & prone to self-harm in the name of science. 

other mentionable details:   jax has done some Questionable Shit TM in the name of science.  as he can control / manipulate blood, he’s frequently injured himself to test the extent of his abilities.  he’s also caused some health issues by increasing his blood pressure / fucking with the way blood is supposed to work that has landed him in the hospital a few times.  he’s also tried playing operation with himself and has been studying his genetics obsessively to try to figure what the hell is he / who he is.  he grew up thinking he was a monster (bc thats what they told him he was) so he sometimes considers himself more of a science experiment than a person.  

&. appearance

tattoos: he has full sleeves up and down his arms.  i can’t really find anything that suits it but i think the left side would be venom / symbiotes and  maybe some nightmare before christmas elements??? idk.  the other one would be like a graveyard kind of theme with like tombstones, skulls, some wild looking shapes and black roses..  he also has the album artwork from in love and death by the used on the side of his ribcage (x)   he also has the tattoo from supernatural (x) bc he’s a fucking dork and its his favorite show. 

piercings: nipple, septum, tongue. 

faceclaim: grant gustin.

&. family information

parent names:  helen & n/a. 

parent relationship:  he doesn’t have a relationship with his parents.  his mother gave birth to him at 17 - after having  not been pregnant until she went into labor - and always considered him an abomination. helen’s boyfriend broke up with her thinking she’d been unfaithful and wouldn’t believe that she hadn’t broken their agreement. they’d been saving themselves for marriage and were planning to get married the summer after they graduated.  betrayed by her love and judged by her extremely conservative, religious, family, helen found herself looking for love in all of the wrong places.  this love was never shared with her son.  when she abandoned him at a local orphanage, he was only 5 years old.  he never saw her again. 

sibling names:  n/a.  he doesn’t consider himself having any siblings. he bounced out of foster home after foster home and never made any lasting connections. 

sibling relationship: n/a

other relevant relative: none. he had a maternal uncle but he passed away when he was a baby. he never knew him. 

children: n/a

significant other / spouse: n/a

pets: he has a pet snaked named anguis. it means snake in latin. he thinks he’s clever. he’s not. sdkjgsds. 

&. biography

        it was a blustery october day when helen coyne doubled over in the park across the street from her house. she was meeting her boyfriend, edward lovington, and they had plans to get milkshakes and go to the movies.  instead she was rushed to the hospital under suspicion of a burst appendix, only to give birth to a healthy baby boy some minutes later.   this phenomenon would later be known to be the moment that 43 women around the world delivered babies without ever having been pregnant.  each child would have abilities beyond comprehension and some would go on to become students at the umbrella academy.  jax would not enjoy such a fate. 

      helen’s parents were extremely religious.  she and her boyfriend had pledged their chastity under the belief that they would be married come the summer and he believed her to have broken that vow.  he ended things with her and her family turned their backs on her.  only her brother kept in contact, allowing her and the baby to move into his guest house until they could get back onto their feet.  he was named jackson edward, after his maternal grandfather and his mother’s former love.  jax never met either man but had heard the story from his mother as he grew up.  to this day he doesn’t know why helen decided to keep him; why he wasn’t given up for adoption as a baby, or abandoned at the hospital on the day he was born. 

     desperate for love and looking in the wrong places, helen suffered a string of abusive and controlling men.  it was a circle of abuse that she seemed caught in, believing to her core that she deserved it because god had punished her.  this continued until jax was five, when her latest boyfriend scratched her face.  the cuts welled up - the first time a boyfriend had drawn blood in jax’s presence - but to everyone’s dismay, the wound coagulated and the blood disappeared, back where it came from.  her boyfriend would have killed them both - afraid of what he’d seen when jax yelled at him to stop - but his eyes ran red as the blood inside his body boiled and cooked him from the inside out.  the sound of his body hitting the floor was drowned out by helen’s screams.  jax was abandoned at a local orphanage days later, his mother unable to look at him as she believed he was a monster.  

        maine isn’t a big city.  the area they were in was extremely small, so whispers of what had happened to helen’s boyfriend ran rampant.  jax was branded a freak, kept in isolation at the orphanage in fear of what he’d do to the other children.  he didn’t understand his powers yet and believed what his mother said was true; that he was a monster and that he deserved whatever happened to him as a consequence of it.  he withdrew into himself and was selectively mute until his teen years, bouncing from foster home to foster home as he grew.   it was only when he was 13, now exploring his powers with a morbid curiosity he would later attribute to scientific hypothesis, that he started speaking again.  

     jax grew up very isolated and socially awkward.  he doesn’t always know how to talk to people or how to appropriately react in certain situations.  he’s very morbid, has a dark sense of humor, and has a lot of questionable interests.  his music taste is skewed towards screamo / emo music and heavy metal.  he prefers horror movies to essentially every other genre and spends hours listening to true crime podcasts and lives on CSI / Criminal Minds / SVU etc.  his favorite bands are my chemical romance, the used, saosin, underoath, black veil  brides, and disturbed. 

       academically, jax is kind of a genius.  he didn’t really have friends so he spent a lot of time studying.  he finds biology interesting because his own biology fascinates him.  he can control blood; can make it coagulate, raise his own blood pressure, and even create it from his own cells.  it doesn’t make sense.  it doesn’t fit into what he knows about the human condition and that fascinates him.  experimenting on himself has become second nature and he covered up the majority of the scarring with tattoos.  the only friend he ever had showed him how to do some of it himself as a teenager and he’s kept up with the hobby - buying cheap supplies online or cutting corners to keep up with the artwork decorating his body.