#Ichor's story is actually the second one I mentioned tbh

[spotlightstudios]

I'm alive when I shouldn't be. Not that I've been revived or someone took the bullet tor me. I just... shouldn't have survived a specific event, and now it follows me everywhere I go.

[asocier]

          because i forget my own headcanons and have yet to really flesh out very important details, here is a masterpost of topaxi headcanons and lore pertaining to alison/nathalie, emile, and leah!  

          tl;dr: new locations mentioned in this post include alsace ( alison and emile’s home country before topaxi ), district 104 ( aka the artists’ corner/the arts district; alison and emile’s home district ), hue ( leah’s family’s home country ) and district 249 ( aka international district; leah’s home district ). 

alison/nathalie and emile clair

          previously mentioned in this post ( but never discussed at length ): the clair family do not have roots in topaxi. more specifically, the family do not have roots in the city of topaxi, though their home country of alsace located on the continent of gaea is part of the topaxi empire and has been for some time. as such, the decision to move to the city of topaxi was a rather easy one, the move done out of much convenience considering how fast the family wanted to start over after alison and emile’s father’s disbarment. 

          to elaborate on the disbarment and its effect on the family ( also pulled from that same post from earlier ): 

          the decision to move to topaxi was hastily made in an attempt to start anew after an unfortunate courtroom incident involving emmanuel clair, emile’s father, who made his living as a well-established defense attorney. his reputation in the courtroom ultimately led to him making some enemies, and a well planted piece of forged evidence in a high profile case led to emmanuel’s downfall and subsequent disbarring ( think ace att/orney tbh ).          

          the blow to emmanuel’s reputation drew media attention not only to himself but his family as well, and with two young children, it was decided that moving away from their home and taking up a new life would be the best, even if this new life wasn’t as lavished as before. and so topaxi was chosen to be their new home – and topaxi is mostly what emile and his twin sister alison know.

         to expand on the last sentence: emile and alison moved from alsace to topaxi when they were five years old, meaning they’re still able to remember their early days outside of topaxi in addition to the family’s move and the reason behind it. they were quite aware of the differences between living in alsace and in topaxi as they adjusted to their new life, and the twins’ slight accent in speech drew attention from classmates who were born in topaxi. all in all, however, the twins do see the city of topaxi more of their home than alsace, and they have a significant attachment to the district their family moved to and grew up in.

          district 104, nicknamed el rincón de los artistas, the artists’ corner, or the arts district for short, is well known for its colorful buildings, cobblestone paved streets, street murals, and frequent live performances in the park located at the district’s heart. many of topaxi’s artists, musicians, and writers either have called district 104 home, performed in one of the district’s performance halls, drawing many from all over to visit the city, even if it’s only for a night, or contributed their works to the district’s own museum. during the day, bazaar vendors are often showcasing their handicrafts, and local performers looking for their big break can be seen busking at the train station or outside restaurants. upon first glance, district 104 seems to be thriving, but many areas of the city struggle financially. 

          similar to how some artists successfully secure and hold onto fame while others struggle, the same can be said about the locals of district 104. on paper, district 104 seems to be doing quite well, but the locals know better than to consider the district wealthy. toci elementary school ( escuela primaria toci ), the school emile currently teaches at, is an example of this dearth in financial support that can exist in some parts of 104. this school, located at 7Sc 19 D104, is home to a little more than 100 students and is considered to be the worst school in district 104 on account of how underfunded it is, how “misbehaved” the children are said to be, and how run-down the area seems to look in comparison to the district’s center. 

          this school also happens to be where alison and emile attended as children. the twins often found themselves returning to this school even as they aged to volunteer and play with the children, the twins acting like older sibling figures to many in the area. considering the fact that the clair family was generally well off and lived quite comfortably, they did as much as they could to support their local community, a sentiment emile still holds very close to his heart. while alison ends up leaving her home district for the central district, her impact in the community can be seen via the murals that are painted on the side of the elementary school and on the side of some of the local businesses. she played an active role in encouraging the youths in her neighborhood to express themselves artistically, and many of those who bonded closely with alison have taken interest in studying art when they’re older. 

leah nguyen 

          district 249, nicknamed el crisol del mundo ( the world’s melting pot ) or more succinctly, the international district, is where leah calls home. while topaxi as a whole is known to house people from all over the world, district 249 has taken the idea of a cultural melting pot to a new level to draw in tourists. rumored to have been a district that acted as a refuge for those displaced from their home countries by the many topaxi conquests decades earlier, district 249 today is comprised of many ethnic enclaves that neighbor one another and is considered one of the most culturally diverse districts in topaxi. any tourist who comes to visit can clearly see the variety of sights, sounds, and tastes the district has to offer just by walking down the main road that splits the district in half. 

          originally from hue located on the southeasten part of the houtu continent, leah’s parents found themselves in district 249 after the second most recent topaxi conquest. with much of the continent already under topaxi rule, it was only a matter of time before the topaxi advancement foreces ( taf ) would move into hue next, and despite the country’s effort to defend itself, it was inevitably conquered, sending many to either flee to neighboring nations or to topaxi itself in hopes of finding refuge and better living conditions than their war-torn homeland. 

          many of leah’s family members participated in the war between topaxi and hue, including her father. while her father speaks little of what he experienced during the war, she’s aware of his continued military service even after he had fled hue with her mother, a story many from hue share as they looked to topaxi for new opportunities and better living conditions than their newly war-torn homeland. enticed by the taf’s promises of honor and good pay, former hue natives swallowed their pride and began to fight on the side of the victor in the most recent set of conquests. this is a story many in district 249 share, as well; after having their homeland ransacked and conquered, many find themselves desperate for ways to support their families and turn to enlisting in topaxi’s army, which seems to be always looking for disposable members. unfortunately, ichor poisoning on account of being exposed to high levels of ichor in a short period of time was common for those enlisted in the army, and it wasn’t long before miasmic symptoms hindered many soldiers from living their lives normally after they were discharged.

          growing up in a community so heavily affected by ichor poisoning is actually the driving force behind leah’s decision to attend university and pursue her current research interest. her studies are very interdisciplinary: while she is officially a student of the psychology department, the research she conducts with her supervisor is a collaborative effort between the engineering, psychology, and robotics departments. interested in measuring the public’s perceptions of the newly developing prosthetic technology and capturing the stories and experiences of those who suffer from miasma ( as a result of warfare, ichor mining, or other sources of ichor poisoning ), leah plays a role in the interview and transcription process of the research and works closely with her research team to present this information to the other departments. 

          having grown up in district 249 all her life, leah was exposed to many different cultural influences at an early age, and as such, she picked up on many useful phrases in different languages during her time in the district. she’s only fluent in two languages, but her ability to understand bits and pieces of conversation in other languages seemed to have added to her appeal to both the admissions office and her current research lab at topaxi’s autonomous cultural university, or universidad cultural autonoma de topaxi ( ucat ). being the first in her family to attend college, there are high expectations resting on her shoulders to be successful, and there’s a constant need for leah to better and prove herself as she navigates academia. she currently resides in district 21, the university district, to complete her studies. it’s a bit far from district 249 so she doesn’t return home often, but she writes to her family when she can and visits during long holidays.