those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

name	Hickory Over-the-River
age	24
pronouns	he/him
race	lesser gryphon
alignment	chaotic good
status	going steady
theme	Brand New Colony — The Postal Service

Then

Born to the well-to-do Over-the-River gryphon clan, Hickory grew up under very tight expectations: be respectable. Have class. Do as you're told. Be perfect. He managed for a while, for he had no reason not to believe his rich and respected parents didn't know what they were doing. The fact that being perfect cost him his personality seemed normal.

College arrived. Hickory went off to the prestigious Gorgon Academy in Monster City, the world's foremost nonhuman higher learning ... and immediately fell in with anarchists and hippies. They immediately adopted him, and many late, drunken nights of heartfelt talks led Hickory to start to question his entire upbringing. Maybe being perfect wasn't worth it. Tentatively, he started to explore himself, and discovered a young man who would rather urbex and cook and be the bottom of a cuddle-pile than anything else.

In his final year at Gorgon, he brought his boyfriend, a sphinx, home to meet his family. He thought it was going well, until his boyfriend left. The thin veneer of politeness shattered as his parents told him in no uncertain terms that he was only to court gryphon women, and that he was to break up with the boyfriend immediately. Hickory refused, and just as quickly found himself cut off from his family, his tuition money, and everything else his parents had been helping him with.

Unable to pay for his final semester and without the grades to pursue scholarships, Hickory dropped out. Not long after, he ended things with his boyfriend. A friend gave him room on her couch until he could get back on his feet.

Now

Hickory's found a job working at a mid-scale restaurant as a waiter, and has been surprised to find how healthy working in service and around food has been for him. Health codes forbid him from working in the kitchen, due to all his feathers and fur, but he's befriended all the cooks and is slowly learning their techniques and recipes. One of these cooks invited him to their Halloween party, where he met London Bridge, a human—who immediately propositioned him for a one-night stand. He accepted.

Several more trysts and some soul-searching later, Hickory admitted to her that he couldn't bring himself to sleep with someone he wasn't dating, fully expecting her to refuse. Instead, London told him he should have said something sooner.

Hickory and London currently live in a small apartment in the west end of Monster City, and both agree that they're happier now than they've ever been before. Hickory is in the process of setting up an online video channel for cooking, and is deftly avoiding all of London's suggestions that he go back to finish his last semester of schooling.

Trivia

• Although he hates it, as it reminds him of his childhood, Hickory is very skilled at traditional gryphon singing, a kind of throat-singing that produces three notes simultaneously. He can also play piano.
• Hickory, like most lesser gryphons (a race of gryphon that lacks wings), is capable of walking on two legs and can if necessary, but finds it uncomfortable.
• His favorite meal to cook is the complicated risson kije, a classic gryphon dish consisting of three types of meat in a thick, curry-like sauce and served with custard apples and mango. His favorite meal to eat is spaghetti.
• Despite being many times larger than his girlfriend, with claws and a sharp beak, Hickory feels safest when he's next to London.

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