#starving for creativity or else he'll kill himself

[protect-namine]

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[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tags @thatuselesshuman @nczaversnick and @phoenixradiant!

OC's 'Most Important' Tag

Rules: Make a list (detailed or not!) of the most important people, events/moments, places, and anything else that shaped your characters into who they are now, describing how/why.

Green for positive

Red for negative

I feel like answering for my shady boy, Djek! What a silly little guy!

Most Important People:

Izjik - As the first of the Outcasts to take a chance on him (she talked him out of killing her and rescued him from being killed himself in a deal gone bad), Djek has always kind of looked up to Izjik. She's older, more confident, a better fighter, and more sure in her convictions. He sees her as a sort of older sister he never had. They two of them have a lot of fun together as the more outgoing pair in the quartet, and tend to handle any of the more socially delicate situations the quartet comes across.

Sepo - Now here is both a brother figure and a bother figure. Djek loves to get people riled up. He loves to skirt the edge of being funny and making people genuinely mad. Sepo is his main target for these shenanigans, as the grouchy siren is always ready to pick a fight. Arguing with Sepo is Djek’s favorite hobby, and he does hold a lot of respect for him, it's just funny watching his face get super red. Djek sees Sepo as the most responsible member of the group and looks to him for big decisions. He's always deeply touched when Sepo places any trust in him.

Twenari - His little buddy! Djek took one look at this overly serious, old soul of a twelve-year-old and decided it was his job to teach her how to have fun. He takes her to concerts Izjik and Sepo might not approve of, helps her save money for piercings, and talks with her when she's worried about making friends at school. He also holds a lot of respect for her intellectual and sorcerous talent. Djek is well aware that Twenari is a better sorcerer than he'll ever be, but instead of being bitter about getting shown up by a preteen, he's happy to learn from her while coming up with his own creative applications for spells.

Tyche - When Djek first joined the Tunnel Wasps, Tyche was his mentor. After years alone on the streets as a child, he thought of her as his best friend as well. To him, she was his anchor, his ride or die. And Tyche... just didn't feel the same. She saw him as a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. She took him in with the hope that a sorcerer under her employ would boost her reputation within the gang, but Djek’s sorcery is more of a joke than an asset, and he was too kindhearted to ever make a proper Tunnel Wasp thug. I won't go too far into spoilers, but when Tyche got the option between Djek’s life and a fat paycheck, she chose the latter.

Daedryn - Not exactly a figure from his past, Daedryn kidnapped Djek to use as insurance to make Izjik behave while being transported to the All-Temple, the center of the Illarian church, to be cleansed of her connection to End (aka murdered). Daedryn is like Djek in a lot of ways; desperate for approval, soft beneath a tough exterior, and highly empathetic. In his attempts to appeal to her humanity, Djek learned an important lesson about himself in the process - to always listen to his heart when it says something is wrong.

Most Important Moments/Events:

Getting abandoned as a child - Djek was born to a pair of factory workers as the fifth of six children. They never lived comfortably exactly, however, when famine struck the city of Fayuki, things went from bad to desperate. So far as Djek knows, his parents sacrificed him to the streets in an effort to save the rest of his siblings by cutting down on mouths to feed solely because he was the weakest and neediest of his siblings (really, it had more to do with his uncanny resemblance to his mother's coworker, but he doesn't know that). He found himself homeless at the age of seven, not expected to do anything but starve like the rest of the city. However, against all odds, Djek survived. He relied on his small size and cunning fingers to steal and beg. Later, while trying to protect himself from a beating, he discovered his latent sorcery by casting a shadow spell. He used that to survive as well and made it on his own to age fifteen, though he was always a loner for his sensitive demeanor, even among street kids.

Betraying the Tunnel Wasps - The Tunnel Wasps were who got Djek off the streets. Tyche took him in and used him as a thief and lookout. Even so, Djek just wasn't cut out for the gang's brutal methods. The thought of killing made him sick. It was when he was asked to kill the kidnappers of the gang leader's daughter (Izjik and Sepo) that he finally broke and ran away.

Sparing Daedryn - Djek had a lot of reasons to kill Daedryn, and so did Izjik. But it wasn't like people hadn't had a lot of reasons to kill Djek himself before. He knew what it was like to be a pawn in a game bigger and more cruel than you could ever understand. He ended up putting himself between her and Izjik, pleading for Daedryn's life. This was the moment where Djek first realized that his soft heart wasn't a detriment. He saved Daedryn's life and ultimately, if he hadn't done that, every god in the sky and every mortal atop the seas would've died in End's scourge.

Most Important Places (to his story):

Fayuki - This is the city Djek grew up in. It's a humid place, surrounded by thick walls to keep out the dangers of the Kyoku jungle. He doesn't remember his childhood home except for the fact that the walls and air were always stained with coal smog from the nearby factory. When he thinks of where he grew up, he remembers a little overhang on the roof of an abandoned butcher shop. The only way up was to shimmy up a drain pipe in a foot-wide alleyway, so Djek was protected from the bigger kids there.

Nace - This is where he lived for four years with the other Outcasts between book 1 and 2. He did his best to start a locksmithing business, and while it didn't go the best, he definitely learned some valuable lessons.

Anything Else That's Important:

His sorcery - Djek is a sorcerer (a mage with the inborn ability to cast spells), but not a very powerful one. If most sorcerers are a 5 on a scale of 10, he's about a 2. However, what he lacks in power, he makes up for in creativity. Djek knows how to use what he's got in interesting ways. He's also very humble when it comes to learning from Twenari - a girl seven years his junior.

I'll tag @honeybewrites @daisywords @sidhewrites @shit-lit-bitch and anyone else who wants in :)

[get-rammed]

Some were!Monty canon idea things

🐊🐊

- While in both forms, Monty is warm blooded with poor circulation. He's usually pretty cold, and tried to argue for a jacket, but the creatives behind the band refused. So he's got a titty out look, that he likes, but he's cold all the time. He has hand warmers in his band pants pockets, so at the very least he can have warm hands while he plays.

- Monty sleeps with a heated blanket. He had a custom one made to cover both his forms. It is massive and a possible fire hazard. Don't worry about it too much.

- If he's away from home and unable to bring the heated blanket, he'll curl up to the warmest thing. If he's in a hotel room by himself, he'll curl up in the tub with blankets and shut the bathroom door to keep the warm air in.

- He's the kind of person who will stick his cold ass hands on your warm back to spook you a little bit. Minding your own business and he jams his hands in your pants because he's cold 😏

- Has tendencies to man handle on accident. He's big and strong, he genuinely doesn't mean to be an asshole about it. He'll just grab you and move you out of the way, or where he wants you to look. If you don't like it and tell him, he will try to stop himself from doing it in the future. If you tell him you like it, it's going to fluster him and it's all he's going to think about for the next 2 days.

- Montgomery owns a crotch rocket. He takes care of it like it's his baby. Yes, he will give you rides if you ask :) he even has a leather jacket and helmet for you if you don't have your own. No he hasn't had it for years waiting for the day you asked....no he hasn't been simping that hard....

- Speaking of babies. This man wants to be a dad so fucking bad. If given the chance, he would be an amazing dad. Maybe a bit overbearing due to his own experiences, but he would try his best.

- Needs a lot of calories to keep himself going, and tends to eat only when it's dark. He can eat in lit areas, but prefers darker areas. Catch him eating a steak at 2 am standing in the dark of your kitchen.

- Received his lip scar from Bonnie. The rabbit wasn't too happy to hear you and Monty had begun messing around after Bonnie dropped your ass. A bastard to his core. Even if he doesn't have control over you anymore, he doesn't like Monty having you either. Bonnie eventually gets over it.

- His chest and rib scars are from bar fights. His nose scar is from when a kid tried to kill him. They were both 10 at the time. So about that-

- Has had 3 sepeterate people try to kill him before he was 17. It's made him afraid of choking (either to him or him to someone else. Trust can be built for him to be okay with choking, but be patient with him), and touching his face without warning (he will panic and there's no guarantee he won't bite you. If he sees it coming he won't panic).

- He's pretty laid back on a normal basis, but if a chance for a fight arises, he usually takes it. Even if he'll lose. He doesn't know why he does this (trauma babyyyyy). Usually only starts fights when drunk, but will take on anyone that's challenges him, even if sober.

- A lil touch starved, but won't admit it. Plays it off to keep up his cool guy attitude. You're the only person he's soft around. When he knows you're alone with him, he'll lowkey beg for you to brush his hair and snuggle.

- Monty has a nictitating membrane in both forms. There's no signs he has it unless submerged. It wigs a lot of people out, so he doesn't show it off.

- Unfortunately he's unable to hold his breath underwater for as long as an actual alligator, but still longer than an average human. Sitting comfortably under the water with a slowed heartbeat for around 2 hours before he has to come up. He only ever really does this when he's stressed out and needs to be somewhere quiet for a bit.

- He does smoke cigarettes. A bad habit he picked up from his mom.

- Likes to shotgun when smoking weed. He'll do this in either form. It's a bit harder as a gator, but man he loves doing it.

- Misses the easier days of working at his moms mini golf course with you. But he never would have worked up to courage to ask more of you had he not gotten the confidence boost he needed from being in the band.

- Has a oral fixation and usually can be found chewing on pen caps or toothpicks if he doesn't have any gum.

- Had a crush on you since highschool. You told off edgy teen Monty and he's been smitten ever since.

🐏 This is all I got for now.