Amiq Tai Lashgari
nicknames | Ruby
pronouns | He/him, she/her
ethnicity | Belic, Mynese
gender | Gender-Fluid
height | 6'3
sexuality | Gay (Straight for clout)
occupation | Accountant, Assistant
from | Capital Jevia
Her sweet, softened voice echoed in his mind, now simply a distant memory. "What does it mean to you, that you struggle to be honest with yourself?" She would lay beside him and pet his hair, Tai's head cradled on her padded chest. Her arms were soft, her build slim. He didn't have an answer back then, and he doubted he did now. For Tai, the world was a stage, and he was merely a well-trained actor. His voice was performative, crafted tone, even when he wished it'd sound natural. He could switch between feminine and masculine with the shift of a smile.
But underneath the cuffs of his shirt sat scarred skin, skin that bled, liquid hubris dripping from the depths of his being. It had felt like his body was crying in silent agony, unable to keep up with all the drugs, alcohol, and pain he put himself through. His attempts to reach divinity failed, though, and so had his efforts to numb his senses. There was a voice within Tai's mind, one he had affectionately nicknamed as the Director. It had been shaped by years of corporal punishment and social pressure, and it told Tai that at any given moment he was failing to convince his audience, was seen as merely a fool. It made charm drip from his tongue like vomit, twisted his words form into self-aggrandizing bullshit he couldn't bear to listen to.
And yet, he reminded himself, he still had been loved. By his mother, by his sister. By Aaron, Stuart, and Alba. There were those who saw behind the mask and pulled deeper, feeling the firmness underneath the veiled exterior. He had disappointed all of them-- but Tai didn't want to think about that right now. His mother would sit and let him rest his head on her lap, a cascade of anxious mutterings dripping down from her mouth, yet he still found the act comforting. Aanya held his hand and listened intently as he pointed to the sky and named all the different constellations, eyes wide and filled with wonder. Aaron would leave little letters and drawings on his desk for him to discover and would give him kisses when he returned the favor, continuing their game. Stuart would sing with him, would spring him up to dance, would always get the both of them tickets to Tai's favorite operas. And Alba… Alba would pull on the ribbons that kept his mask in place, and would sweetly worm his true self out of him. And she listened. And she cried with him. And he missed her.
Perhaps he wasn't deserving of love. But he had been loved. And maybe he would be loved again. He hoped he could love better than he had in the past.
Physical Description
The Mask's words are always honeyed, tone smug. He moves like a dancer, or an actor playing the king. When he tries to restrain himself, he touches his neck, as if begging for words to drown in his throat. His appearance is immaculate, yet there's desperation hidden behind his eyes. Tai is like a kid playing pretend, except kids don't murder helpless men in cold blood.
Tai is a tall, toned man with deep, rich skin. He has kinky textured hair he wears in two different styles (held back or let down), a prominent wide nose, and thick lips. His eyes are dark and creased, a brown color. His face is decorated with a pair of painted-on beauty marks. Tai has small cheekbones and a square jawline. His eyebrows are thick but well-trimmed, so are his slightly pointed nails.
He has several piercings on each of his ears. On his wrists rest a good collection of self-harm scars, aged with time.
Character Traits
Peacock's feathers | Tai's love for the extra, dramatic and flamboyant drives his personal aesthetic, becoming a center piece of his presentation.
One-track mind | When Tai decides he wants to get something done, he goes through with it, be it a good idea or not. He's incredibly hard-working.
Well-mannered young lady | Tai takes pride in his understanding of social situations matched with his ability to charm whoever he speaks to.
Reinassanse Man | Tai has a wide collection of talents, from violin to tennis, to sea shanties. He's quick to pick up habits and learn new things.
Court's Jester | He's quick to make jokes and keep a light tone regardless of the situation. Tai speaks as if he's always amused as if he knows something you don't.
The Mask | Tai is at all times performing, thus making it difficult for him to even understand his own emotions, let alone express genuine thought without his plethora of emotional barriers meant to protect him. He'll always self aggrandize, even if deep inside he considers himself to be pathetic.
The Hand's Impulse | Tai acts without thinking, his hand moves without his permission. Within those moments, he'll always value his own desires over the safety and well-being of those around him.
Skin-deep | Tai assumes a lack of complexity to those he speaks with, partly blinded by the size of his own damage. He can also be very vain.
Narcissus' Splitting Image | Tai's favorite topic is himself. Plain and simple, Tai's main thought will always be about his clothing, his hair, his face, his past, etc.
People Pleaser | Tai wants the approval of those around him very badly.
Character Backstory
Born from a rich Belic father and a mynese mother, Tai was the firstborn of the well-known merchant Balwan Lashgari. During his childhood, he spent a lot of time out at sea, traveling with his father, his only real comfort being the stories of seaside mythos he picked up on each voyage. The pressure of being a well-studied, excelling Lashgari was placed on him starting then, be it from the roughness of his father's hands or the saddened pleads of his mother.
Once he became a teenager, Tai was sent off to boarding school, where he got to know the boy who would be his childhood sweetheart, Aaron Kerr. They met early on during their stay, finding mutual interest in the occult and the ephemeral (magic), Aaron encouraging Tai to reach out to a teacher who offered obscure information on the topic in exchange for sexual favors.
Through his time in boarding school, Tai learned how cutthroat and judgemental young aristocrats could be of those who were different. This happened after Tai performed as a woman during a play. After that, he polished his social skills, vowing to develop proper manners worthy of the name of his family. With time he became popular, reaching a social echelon unlike his boyfriend's, who felt Tai slip from his grasp, becoming insecure in their relationship. This escalated until their graduation night, in which Aaron committed suicide after a fight with Tai.
Moving into university, Tai developed a taste for partying, drugs, and crossdressing, as well as joining elite ephemera clubs. With the knowledge gained through his studies, he developed the theory that access to future vision was gained through pain felt by the body. His experiments were both self-afflicted and otherwise, a collection of self-harm scars becoming present on his wrists, as well as killing a homeless person during a cocaine-driven manic attack.
Around this time is when he developed further his love of cross-dressing, creating his female counterpart, further pushing his already existing understanding that gender, like everything else, is simply a performance. Alongside this, he met Alba Kallis, a pre-transition trans woman who'd been kicked out of her aristocratic home. The both of them bonded over their wish to be more feminine and started dating. His newfound enjoyment in drag didn't allow him to escape from his growing impulsive violence, almost choking out a man he was sleeping with while in costume. Once leaving university and beginning work for his father, Tai started developing written essays and theories on his ideas for Ephemera. These were not well taken, his work is considered lacking in actual results. During one of his experiments, he drained too much of his subjects' blood, ending in their death. This being a murder he couldn't escape from easily, Tai packed up and ran away into the south of Jevia, leaving behind his girlfriend of three years.
He found shelter within the mansion of the Andrades in Eastriver, offering his work as an accountant in exchange for their hospitality.
Notable People
AARON KERR.
17 | Olman | Deceased
His stance is uncertain, arms hugging himself. Fluffy, messy, silver hair, which puffed out with frizz and dirt. His skinny, long hands were usually stained with ink, nails long yet always broken. There was always a bruise or mark on his back, neck, etc. His eyes were shiny, gentle blonde lashes hiding a twinkle of anger-- or perhaps holding back tears. A small boy with a buzzing mind.
Aaron would sit on my lap and hold his knees, his head against my chest. And then he would suddenly kiss me, his hands over my eyes so I couldn't look at him. But I knew that his cheeks were bright red, like the sweetest cherry. So I smiled, and kissed him back, my warm hands holding onto his snowy skin.
Tai's childhood boyfriend of six years, killed himself the night of graduation. Aaron was a shy, skinny boy with not many friends. They met very early on when entering boarding school, became roommates, and bonded over their love for the unexplainable and mystery.Aaron was the son of a well-known fantasy writer and was studious like Tai. Aaron had more connections with professors than with students, one case, in particular, being Professor Koskinen, a history teacher who offered obscure information about Ephemera to young students who'd have sex with him. Aaron encouraged Tai to start speaking with him in exchange for information.His relationship with Tai became unhealthy with the passing of years, Tai facing the brunt of Aaron's depression himself despite not being able to handle it. They developed a cycle of fighting and then sleeping together, Aaron firmly believing that Tai hated him, a notion that made Tai incredibly upset. It all culminated when, during a date the day before graduation, they got into a screaming match, leading to them not speaking the day of. When Tai got back after a party, Aaron was dead.
AANYA CHUNHUA LASHGARI.
20 | Belic, Mynese | Alive
Tall stature runs in the family. With the turn of her head comes the sparkle of her eel earrings, their pointed ends striking past her held-back afro. Her clothing is of fine quality yet is usually not picked out by her. There's always a book or a journal in her hands. She has a small mouth that's usually kept in a straight line, adorned by thick lips. Her eyes look vacant, and if you speak to her she'll always ask for you to repeat yourself. But her mind is not blank, rather, her thoughts are private.
Little Chun will go far someday-- finally, a great mind continues the legacy of the Lashgaris, one who makes the cut. You know, Her voice is so monotone these days-- she used to squeak and giggle at my good humor. But it's been a decade since, hasn't it? Oh, how the time flies... When did I last see her?
Aanya is a young woman, the second child of the well known merchant Balvan Lashgari, and Tai's sister. She's currently in university, and one day wishes to become a writer.She's their father's favorite, considered to be the golden child, not surrounded with as many conflicts and rumors as her older sibling. She's well studied and focused, though not very social. She's never been the one to have many friends, and is often in conflict with her professors on the grounds of her insistence with questions and thoughts during class.Aanya has a deep interest for cryptids and myth, believing most to be true. This was something instilled by Tai's influence, and a point of bonding during Aanya's childhood, though their relationship is strained now as a result of Tai's lack of interest in her.Her belief in cryptids goes to the point of believing that her brother was replaced by a mythological jellyfish changeling when she grew up, explaining the difference between the kind, caring brother of her childhood and the uncaring, murderous man he's become today.
17 | Olman | Deceased
His stance is uncertain, arms hugging himself. Fluffy, messy, silver hair, which puffed out with frizz and dirt. His skinny, long hands were usually stained with ink, nails long yet always broken. There was always a bruise or mark on his back, neck, etc. His eyes were shiny, gentle blonde lashes hiding a twinkle of anger-- or perhaps holding back tears. A small boy with a buzzing mind.
Aaron would sit on my lap and hold his knees, his head against my chest. And then he would suddenly kiss me, his hands over my eyes so I couldn't look at him. But I knew that his cheeks were bright red, like the sweetest cherry. So I smiled, and kissed him back, my warm hands holding onto his snowy skin.
Tai's childhood boyfriend of six years, killed himself the night of graduation. Aaron was a shy, skinny boy with not many friends. They met very early on when entering boarding school, became roommates, and bonded over their love for the unexplainable and mystery.Aaron was the son of a well-known fantasy writer and was studious like Tai. Aaron had more connections with professors than with students, one case, in particular, being Professor Koskinen, a history teacher who offered obscure information about Ephemera to young students who'd have sex with him. Aaron encouraged Tai to start speaking with him in exchange for information.His relationship with Tai became unhealthy with the passing of years, Tai facing the brunt of Aaron's depression himself despite not being able to handle it. They developed a cycle of fighting and then sleeping together, Aaron firmly believing that Tai hated him, a notion that made Tai incredibly upset. It all culminated when, during a date the day before graduation, they got into a screaming match, leading to them not speaking the day of. When Tai got back after a party, Aaron was dead.
AANYA CHUNHUA LASHGARI.
20 | Belic, Mynese | Alive
Tall stature runs in the family. With the turn of her head comes the sparkle of her eel earrings, their pointed ends striking past her held-back afro. Her clothing is of fine quality yet is usually not picked out by her. There's always a book or a journal in her hands. She has a small mouth that's usually kept in a straight line, adorned by thick lips. Her eyes look vacant, and if you speak to her she'll always ask for you to repeat yourself. But her mind is not blank, rather, her thoughts are private.
Little Chun will go far someday-- finally, a great mind continues the legacy of the Lashgaris, one who makes the cut. You know, Her voice is so monotone these days-- she used to squeak and giggle at my good humor. But it's been a decade since, hasn't it? Oh, how the time flies... When did I last see her?
Aanya is a young woman, the second child of the well known merchant Balvan Lashgari, and Tai's sister. She's currently in university, and one day wishes to become a writer.She's their father's favorite, considered to be the golden child, not surrounded with as many conflicts and rumors as her older sibling. She's well studied and focused, though not very social. She's never been the one to have many friends, and is often in conflict with her professors on the grounds of her insistence with questions and thoughts during class.Aanya has a deep interest for cryptids and myth, believing most to be true. This was something instilled by Tai's influence, and a point of bonding during Aanya's childhood, though their relationship is strained now as a result of Tai's lack of interest in her.Her belief in cryptids goes to the point of believing that her brother was replaced by a mythological jellyfish changeling when she grew up, explaining the difference between the kind, caring brother of her childhood and the uncaring, murderous man he's become today.
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