DAVID MTHEMBU PATRICK

i can't make you love me.
i can make you hurt me.

story:

born to an adopted mother and an immigrant father, dave is the baby of three siblings, with the other two being twins, five years older than him. his parents sacrifice a lot to allow their kids to live worry free, but it hasn't seemed to help. roman & thea are alcohol and drug addicts, and dave has faced his fair share of abuse and traumatic moments.seeking freedom from the fear of change as well as stasis, dave took his best friend and they went road tripping for a gap year. and then another. and another. until their health and relationship deteriorated to the point that they could no longer stand to be around each other, and dave was left to face the consequences of his actions alone.he chose instead to hurt himself through various forms of self harm while living alone in a parking lot in minneapolis. during this time, he repressed himself deeply, and objectified himself, effectively destroying what remained of his self-worth. stressed, alone, feeling unloved and truly wanting to exist no longer, dave faces each day with a heavy dose of dissociation and nihilism. and still, something deep inside yearns for a life beyond isolation, beyond self-hatred, beyond an endless downward spiral. something reaches for human connection.his downward spiral was broken when he met ethan rhodes, a facebook mutual, on a short trip to new york city. they've moved in together into ethan's one bedroom apartment, and maybe someday, they might just save each other.

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AMADEO LUCIANO CATTANEO

should i tear my heart out now?
everything i feel returns to you somehow.

story:

luca is an only child in an extremely large, extremely sicilian family. his paternal grandmother and grandfather had seven sons. his father left his mother and him when he was 3, and lost his partial custody of luca when he was 9 for purposefully burning his arm on a stove. he stayed close with his nonna, and his mother and him moved in with her as they had no other family, and they helped run their family-owned hole-in-the-wall panetteria in little italy.his mother passed suddenly and brutally from ovarian cancer when he was 13, which devastated him and put him in nonna's full custody. his other family members bully and blame him for filing a restraining order against their brother, and for his subsequent ostracization by nonna, the family's matriarch. nonna tolerates her children's behaviour, but she loves luca dearly and keeps him safe.he struggled in school and often started fights, especially with his cousins and their friends, and he was frequently suspended. he was very quiet around adults, except his nonna, who he frequently spoke to in sicilian. as an adult, he is the head of the panetteria and does the vast majority of the baking and cleaning, which consumes almost all of his time and they are still only scraping by. as a result, his experiences in relationships and with friends are few and far between, and he is deeply anxious.recently, his grandmother introduced him to a new, very interesting, and very handsome sicilian man she met at church who was visiting the city - thomas. they spent a drunk night together before thomas flew back to new york city. unfortunately, the two forgot to exchange numbers, and luca hasn't been able to stop thinking about him.

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COMET

high achiever; don't you see?
baby, nothing comes for free.

basic info:

comet. he/him. 6'3. human.

story:

long after the end of our civilization, mankind has split into two groups: space-faring and earth-dwelling, both unaware of the other's existence. comet (original name unknown) came crashing to the planet formerly known as earth after being exiled from his starship for unethical experimentation after becoming disillusioned with his people's endless warmaking and destruction - a view shaped by the loss of the most important person in his life.after crashing on earth and attempting to eke out an existence for a few days, he is approached by an earth-dweller - a similar creature to him but shorter, hairier, near-sighted, and whiskered. they don't speak the same language, and the creature takes to calling the spaceman "comet", while identifying itself as "friend".friend introduces comet to an entire society of beings living under the crust of the earth in order to survive the amount of radiation on the surface. friend and comet grow close as friend helps him integrate and gain respect as a scientist and politician within the community. comet's desire for power and leadership grow as he and friend start traveling the earth and he uncovers the sheer amount of resources and lack of regulation available to him here. neither friend nor his community understand comet's end goals, and they trust him implicitly to improve their lives.

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THE WEAVERS

if i loved you a long time, i don't know,
if i can't recall the last time you told me so.

story:

the weaver brothers were born into a evangelical christian cult based on a home church framework on the eastern edge of ohio. the boys were homeschooled by their mother, and their father worked odd jobs to make ends meet. they were raised on deeply conservative views, and their community was limited to the other children and families in their church group.solomon as the oldest has always faced the brunt of the abuse offered by the community, spending his youth trying to defend and protect his siblings. he has never quite fit in, and has a way of accidentally getting into situations he is punished for. playing instruments was always his escape from his world, and he used it as a way to worship god. he has always been a quiet and well behaved boy, and it is not enough. at 17, immediately after graduating high school, solomon fled to new york, where he currently lives and works as a music tutor. he shares a one bedroom with a high school band teacher, stephen, who he does not have a crush on. he does not speak to his parents, and they do not know he is gay, especially because he has never allowed himself to be. with his baby brother recently moving in, he and stephen have agreed to share a bedroom to give gideon the couch to sleep on and the semblance of privacy.saul is the middle child, but he is clearly the favorite. growing up, he was popular, outgoing, and athletic. he frequently broke rules, and he was somehow never caught. he knew many outsiders to their community and is the one who encouraged solomon to leave, knowing how much he was struggling at home. it broke his parents heart when he announced he was moving to pittsburgh with some friends, but they of course forgive him and allow him to visit. he is the sole line of communication between solomon and their parents. he is scraping together funds to hopefully attend college and study social work.gideon is the baby, and was unplanned and resented by their mother until he took a sincere interest in religion. as a result, she was more neglectful with him than anything, and he ended up raised largely by solomon and saul, who love him very dearly. he lived at home until he was 19, studying religion, performing sermons, and hoping to be made a church leader. near the time he was hoping to be announced, he got caught up with another boy from their church and they were caught kissing on the weaver property by his mother. irate and disgusted, she immediately kicked him out without even letting him pack a bag, and he called his brothers for help. after spending a week with saul in pittsburgh sleeping on the floor, he chose to bus to new york to live with solomon and his roommate, where he will at least have a couch to crash on.

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COSETTE

if i loved you a long time, i don't know,
if i can't recall the last time you told me so.

basic info:

comet. he/him. 6'3. human.

story:

long after the end of our civilization, mankind has split into two groups: space-faring and earth-dwelling, both unaware of the other's existence. comet (original name unknown) came crashing to the planet formerly known as earth after being exiled from his starship for unethical experimentation after becoming disillusioned with his people's endless warmaking and destruction - a view shaped by the loss of the most important person in his life.after crashing on earth and attempting to eke out an existence for a few days, he is approached by an earth-dweller - a similar creature to him but shorter, hairier, near-sighted, and whiskered. they don't speak the same language, and the creature takes to calling the spaceman "comet", while identifying itself as "friend".friend introduces comet to an entire society of beings living under the crust of the earth in order to survive the amount of radiation on the surface. friend and comet grow close as friend helps him integrate and gain respect as a scientist and politician within the community. comet's desire for power and leadership grow as he and friend start traveling the earth and he uncovers the sheer amount of resources and lack of regulation available to him here. neither friend nor his community understand comet's end goals, and they trust him implicitly to improve their lives.

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