Loudon

[    lazy   ||   compassionate   ||   freeloader   ||   irresponsible   ||   capricious    ]

Loudon's parents had left the sea to live on land long before he was born. They preferred to live in urban areas. Loudon was born in the city of Atlanta in the United States, a city that was starting to grow and become very exciting, but was actually quite far from any large body of water. He grew up aching for the ocean. He would spend a lot of time in rivers and in swimming pools, but his heart was always set on bigger bodies of water. Until he was old enough to leave his parents on his own, he had never anything but a photograph of it. (When he got to see it for himself, as an adult, he actually ended up somewhat let down) He didn't hate the city, though. In fact, as Loudon got older, he took to the city like a fish to water. He fellin love with the culture of living in a city. He loved always having entertainment and good food within reach. He loved fashion. He loved nightlife. But the thing that Loudon fell most in love with was music. Music was in his soul; he needed it to survive just like food or water. And his love for music, combined with the fact that he lived in the city, lead to Loudon developing his three favorite activities - going to concerts, going to night clubs, and going to a tremendous amount of very loud and very wild parties. Everything changed one summer, when Loudon accompanied his best friend Jontae on a vacation to Thailand. Venturing from a walking trail too far into the jungle, Loudon came upon another makoatl tied to a tree at the river's edge. This other makoatl was named Hark Morningtide. Hark had been captured from his home in his youth and forced to spent his life working on pirate fishing boats. His story really struck a chord with Loudon, who was left deeply traumatized by the fact that things like this still happen today and he hadn't even been aware of it. Returning back to Atlanta, Loudon found himself missing Hark tremendously. He thought about Hark all of the time. But of course, Hark had no cell phone. He had no address. There was no way for them to communicate. And Loudon had no money for a return trip to Thailand. His only hope was that one day Jontae would want to go back. He started reading about trafficking. It felt like the one way he could be close to Hark again. As he educated himself, he became aware of some horrifying facts. His own home city, Atlanta, was determined to be number one for trafficking in the world. Loudon decided to do something about it. As he got more and more involved in the fight against slavery, he felt his life had more purpose. He wasn't just some loser taking advantage of his friend's money. He had something he cared about and something he believed in. By the time that Loudon finally found Hark again and freed him, many years had passed, during which he had thought about Hark daily. Hark, on the other hand, had barely thought about Loudon at all, so at first things were really strained and strange because Loudon was so in love and Hark was so indifferent. Through reintroducing Hark to the free world, though, Loudon was able to get close to him. 

Relationships

➥ Jontae - Loudon and Jontae met when they were young and grew up together, but their friendship really blossomed when they became adults. They had enough in common physically that they pretended to be brothers, and they would tell wild and untrue stories about growing up together in hopes of wooing the best-looking ladies and guys around. Because of this, the two had a bit of a reputation, both as heart-breakers and as compulsive liars. They frequently got caught in their lies. It didn't really affect their popularity though - you don't need to be honest to have a good time - but it meant that, outside of the parties and clubs, very few people genuinely liked them. This hardly bothered either of them, though, as they saw their lives as good enough the way they were. Jontae lived a life of privilege - his parents were extremely wealthy, and he was well-educated. This was not true for Loudon, who was always the more naive of the two. He relied a lot on Jontae to form his opinions of the world. Loudon was always a bit less reliable of the two, as well. He frequently made plans with others and forgot to keep them. If he did show up, then he was always late, or he would have forgotten to bring or do the things he said he would. This quality, combined with his laziness, meant that Loudon always had trouble keeping jobs. He worked at fast food restaurants, he tried to get jobs modelling or acting, he was the DJ for some parties. But he never kept a job very long, because he wouldn't show up, or he'd show up but wouldn't accomplish anything. He relied a lot on Jontae's wealth to survive, and Jontae was constantly bailing him out of financial trouble. However, out of the two of them, Loudon was much more caring towards the average people they weren't friends with. He could make friends easily, and he always made each friend feel as though they were the most important of all of his friends. That was until he inevitably didn't show up at some gathering they had invited him to, or forgot to send them a birthday card or something. Gradually over time, everyone he was friends with realized how unreliable he was, and so the only genuine friend he had was Jontae.
➥ Hark - meeting Hark changed Loudon's life. He never used to care about slavery, but Hark's life as a slave moved Loudon to examine the world more closely. It took a lot of work to track Hark down and free him from the pirate fishermen, and Hark knows this. His freedom is very unfamiliar and somewhat unwelcome, but he knows that he owes Loudon his life. Because of the injustices that Hark has suffered, Loudon treats Hark like a prince, which makes Hark very uncomfortable. He would prefer not being treated like someone who is damaged. Despite that, though, he is thankful. He tries to repay this by showing him kindness and affection, but his heart isn't really whole enough to feel true love towards Loudon. Loudon, of course, is totally oblivious to this. He thinks that he and Hark have a perfect relationship. It would hurt him deeply to know that Hark only loves him reluctantly. 
➥ Aria - Loudon met Aria through Jontae. She's more of Jontae's friend than Loudon's. They get along well enough, but Aria finds him to be a bit naive. He does tend to agree with her about social justice and politics, though, and she thinks he has a good heart. 
➥ Gamble - also met through Jontae, Gamble and Loudon have a decent friendship. They are actually probably a bit closer than Jontae and Gamble are, just because Jontae is so much crueler than Gamble could ever be. Gamble doesn't trust Loudon very much, although he does admire him a lot for freeing Hark and caring about slavery.