you were sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do.

name	London Bridge
age	26
pronouns	she/her
race	human
alignment	chaotic neutral
status	going steady
theme	Serpent Charmer — Iron & Wine

Then

Only one in five thousand people are born with "Quetzalcoatl's disease," a magic-based disorder commonly known as "snakeblood." London won that particular lottery. Born with patches of scaly skin, slit pupils with bad vision, venomous fangs, and an incredibly poor immune system, the first few years of London's life were simply a fight to keep her alive.

Her family moved to a suburb outside Monster City to be closer to the only hospital with experience in dealing with Quetzalcoatl's, and that was where London grew up. Always delicate of health, she grew up feeling isolated, unable to attend many of the same activities as her friends and classmates. As a teenager, she fell into bad crowds, finding her social circles amid alcohol and drugs. After all, she thought, it wasn't like she was going to live past thirty anyway.

As her rebelliousness and risk-taking grew, her parents' concern turned to frustration. After a pregnancy scare at seventeen that was compounded by her condition, which ended in a week-long hospital stay, she was given an ultimatum: clean up her act or find somewhere else to live. London left.

Monster City was not the safest of places for a young woman on her own, but London managed to avoid the worst of it. She floated from place to place for nearly two years, staying with friends, acquaintances, and shelters. For a time she was even selling her own venom to various shady buyers. Eventually she enrolled herself in cosmetology school at the behest of a friend, and got a job at a small salon. Through the support of the friends she made at the school and at the salon, she finally began to clean up her life.

Now

London still works part-time at the salon, but has begun taking classes at a community college at night in hopes of pursuing a degree in herpetology, as being snakeblooded gives her the advantage of being immune to most venoms. She also runs a modestly popular video channel dedicated to DIY makeup, hair, and so on, mostly aimed at humanoid monsters. After she began going steady with her boyfriend Hickory (which came about after a number of one-night stands), she's started putting out videos about self-style for gryphons, too. Her health has evened out for the most part, but her insurance premium is disgustingly high and she still finds herself bedridden several times a year. Fortunately, the ad revenue from her videos helps offset the costs.

She has not seen her family since leaving at seventeen, and despite the fact she is now a well-adjusted adult, is too afraid to contact them. Hickory is slowly but surely working on her to do it anyway.

Trivia

• Her natural hair color is ash blond, but she's been dying it green ombré since she was nineteen.
• Her favorite client at work is an elderly harpy who comes in once every three weeks to get her hair, nails, and talons done. She talks a mile a minute and has hundreds of stories.
• When Hickory expressed his frustration at not being able to cook professionally to her, she immediately helped him set up a cooking channel online, using her know-how and connections to give him a good start.
• While she was frequently afflicted with night terrors when she was younger, she's discovered sleeping next to Hickory seems to get rid of them entirely.

HTML by lowkeywicked