Drakon

Trivia

›› Drakon is pretty much ambidextrous.

›› They love to hoard all kinds of stuff and protect it with their life, but their most priced possession is an old beat up harmonica. They play it very well.

›› They never bothered to learn how to read, they can write their name but only in all caps (a flat circle, a fat guy without head, a weird door, table on its side, a not-flat circle, a zig-zag. DRAKON. they maybe also know S, because that's what snakes look like and snakes also say ssssss). They do know how to read numbers tho, but it's unclear how well they can count.

›› They don't care about their gender one way or another. The pronouns listed / the pronouns I've used in this bio may be they/them, but really you can call them by any pronouns or freely refer to them as a boy or a girl or whatever, they don't mind.
Finnish doesn't even have gendered pronouns, but when writing Drakon I use se instead of hän, as well as using other colloquial words and phrases as often as possible.

›› Drakon describes their dragon form as being very big and scary, house-destroying, fire-breathing thing, with a long snake-like body (dragon = lohikäärme = salmon snake flying snake, also snakes are the coolest according to Drakon because their big brother is a snake shifter). The dragon is supposedly mostly yellow with some red, and it has Drakon's scars, tattoo and missing fingertip.

›› Thing One Drakon vaguely remembers from the outside is music. Their dad was a musican who loved to play the violin to them, and Drakon might not remember being young Dara Soun who loved to listen to him, but they do remember the feeling of it.

›› Thing Two Drakon remembers from the outside is "You're not allowed to shift, or they'll take you away" – a thing their dad probably tried to teach them for their safety as every caught shifter will be taken from their families and put into a Sopeuttamiskeskus, regardless of age or situation.
In Torni there is no same kind of danger or stigma for shifting, but Drakon has still very much subconsciously internalized that rule, and to this day it plays into their unwillingness to reveal their real animal form to anyone, even if they can't really grasp the origin or original purpose of the rule.

›› As they've spent all of their (known) life inside, they would be very scared of the bigness of the real world and would probably have a severe agoraphobia.
For similar reasons - because there are always lights on in the corridors' of Torni, Drakon is extremely uncomfortable with total darkness.

›› Drakon has learnt to fall asleep anywhere, at any time.

›› They will sit on the bed with shoes on and complain that Ezra is a neatfreak if he says not to.

›› The coolest thing they've ever seen is their friend's light up disco ball.

›› Drakon has literally canonically said "i don't wear make up, my face is already perfect", but for some reason i just keep drawing them with eyeliner. Are they lying or are my drawings lying?? who knows.

›› I love Drakon so! much!!, them and their and their friend gang’s antics. Especially since the world of New Start could at times get pretty dark around their pretty light hearted* and ridiculous teenage drama.
(*in comparison.. tho i have never experienced as intense physical anguish rping than when drakon was at odds with Ezra, their brother...)

›› pinterest moodboard

playlist

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Story

›› Dara Soun has two poor, but loving parents.

›› Dad plays the violin and teaches Dara Soun to love art.

›› Mom dies when Dara Soun is four.

›› Dad dies a few years later.

›› Dara Soun runs away and doesn't die. They live on the streets and they have a bunch of friends. Like alleycats! (Raitapaita is their favourite - you can actually pet it, Tiikeri and Nappi sit near, but don't let anyone touch them, Repalekorva is the biggest one, and Mealea is the prettiest but the most shy.)

›› Sometimes Dara Souns sleeps at dad's friends' houses and sometimes they even feed them. But Dara Soun knows they're not a part of their families...

›› ...and they never will be. These are not their parents, not their family, and they will always be an outsider here. Dara Soun turns into a frog in front of them, gets reported and locked away. They're about seven.

›› Someone nice decides to look after them, like they've looked after Ezra, a snake boy a couple of years older than Dara Soun. But Torni is a big and scary place - full of people turning into animals and animals turning into people - to a small little Dara Soun.

›› So, when Ezra the snake boy asks who they are, Dara tells him that they're Drakon, who can turn into a big and scary dragon, that breathes fire and crushes buildings - just like in dad's stories. But no worries, they won't ever shift, because they don't want to hurt anyone!

›› They may have lost their freedom, but at least they gained a brother.

›› Soon they forget all about the outside world...

›› ...and soon they forget all about Dara Soun.

›› Drakon grows up...

›› ...and up...

›› ...and up...

›› ...and up.

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›› Ezra and his (and maybe Drakon's) friend Les decide to start an acting club. Drakon wants in.

›› Nothing really ever comes of it, but at least the poster's cool.

›› Drakon learns that Mia hates music - and Drakon, probably. They still save his life, when someone threatens to kick him down the stairs in his hedgehog form. Maybe he wasn't actually in any real danger, and maybe Drakon didn't like.. really do anything, but bah! A life saved!!

›› Jean (©Vahti), a member of a gang La Manada, has been rumoured to have been harrassing another tornilapsi, Hasuka (©Äänetön) – who isn't really Drakon's friend but tornilapset should still sort of stick together. So despite trying to stay out of any gang business, when Drakon catches Jean trying to assault unconcious Les, they have to intervene!

›› Actually Les stole some piece of paper from Jean, and things escalated quickly when they refused to give it back. Les gets their only hand broken as a punishment by the floor's owners who were displeased by the commotion, and Jean was gathering unconcious Les into his arms to take them to the Infirmary.

›› A well meaning Drakon tries to help Les - aaand for their troubles gets punched in the face, marked with a knife, and banned from the whole floor.

›› While Drakon is sitting on a staircase, nursing their aching face and wondering if another one of their teeth came loose when they were punched, someone tries to rob their backpack.

›› But Drakon would never part from all of their earthly possessions that easily, and throws them both down the stairs.

›› It goes about as well as expected. Drakon loses the tooth, and bangs up their already banged up face - and everything else - pretty bad. But at least they still have the backpack!

›› The robber isn't faring too well, either. Especially after Ezra arrives and steps on her fingers.

›› Suddenly Rasmus and Mia are also there. Rasmus kicks Ezra on the back, but snake Ezra doesn't bite Rasmus the caribou and Everything is Very Painful and Confusing. Drakon is kinda out of it, but at least the robber turns out to be pretty cool.

© lenni

›› Mia and Ezra take Drakon and their new friend - Keffig or something - to the Infirmary on the basement of Torni. Les with their broken hand is already there, too!

›› Pain sucks. It also sucks that their favourite (their only) rainbow shirt is all bloody and unwearable now. Drakon is worried they'll lose all their teeth - after all this was the second one of the supposed "permanent" ones they've lost. Also sucks that they can't go to the 9th floor anymore, since they're banned.

›› Drakon is So Mad at the stupid damn gang member - the one with the stolen paper, who started this whole thing - and tries to guilt trip him by telling him that Les has died without the use of their only good hand.

›› It doesn't work - especially when Les themself arrives. Well, whatever, the sanctimonius prick leaves anyways.

›› There's something weird going on with Les and Ezra. Maybe something to do with Mia.

›› Drakon wonders if they should buy a cool hat.

›› There are three floors of Torni filled with living quarters. These small rooms are called cabins (in a compartment sort of way, not in a log cabin sort of way). Since there aren't nearly enough of them for everyone, usually the way to get one is to forcibly evict the previous owners.

›› But Ezra finds a cabin whose owner has just died and no one had claimed the room yet. He and Drakon move in.

›› For the first time ever Drakon has their own room! (That they of course share with Ezra.) Cabin number 27! It's a tiny little thing, but there are two beds, a mattress, a wardrobe and a drawer - and even their own small bathroom with a real toilet and a sink. It's luxurious!!

*click*

›› Drakon meets Keffig the robber - actually called Kevin - again, they become actual (best) friends, and start a band.

›› Drakon invites Kevin to move in to their new cabin and she does, so Ezra invites his random new friend, Jolene to move in too. Jolene joins Kevin and Drakon's band.

lines © lenni

›› They would be the coolest band ever. Kevin would play the drums, Drakon would play their harmonica, and Jolene would sing. They just have to find a couple of more members and some instruments.

›› Members of the same gang that sanctimonius prick, Jean, is in, have beaten Rasmus into a bloody pulp, and Drakon helps him down to the Infirmary - in other words they totally save his life! Drakon is truly a life saver!!

›› Meanwhile, all of this cabin business is starting to put some strain on Drakon and Ezra's relationship... and a lot of pressure on Drakon, who quickly starts to realize that hanging out with two people, Kevin and Jolene, who are fresh from the outside is not good for their never-feel-like-an-outsider-thing.

›› Les moves into the Cabin 27 too, and it's super cool. Until Jolene comes in with news of Ezra and Les's marriage - announced on a bulletin board that happens to be on the floor that Drakon is banned from!

›› Drakon panics and doesn't stay to find out if the rumors are true, because their brother and their friend getting married without telling them = bad bad bad for Drakon's whole never-feel-like-an-outsider-thing.

›› Instead they run straight to Pimeä, the garbage dump floor of Torni.

›› Ezra follows, and instead of telling him what's wrong and why they had to leave so suddenly - that they have been lying to him for the past ten years, and feeling excluded makes them turn into a harmless little frog instead of a fearsome dragon, and how they feel like Jolene is stealing all their friends (Kevin already calls her Jii!) and now the marriage thing on top of that...

›› No, no. Instead they're trying their hardest not to feel that feeling, and coming off as snippy and standoffish.

›› They end up fighting and Ezra storms off to find someone nicer and more normal and not-an-asshole. At least he's not there anymore when the frog comes out.

›› Drakon starts avoiding the Cabin 27, because there are people there and it's gotten harder and harder to control the unwanted shapeshifting.

›› At least it's still easy to hang out with Kevin. They meet Kitten - an even newbier newbie than Kevin herself - who has been very busy in the past like two minutes he's been in Torni, and has already seized a cabin for himself and his friend.

›› Kitten invites them to visit - and to see the light up disco ball he has there.

›› Kevin turns into a dog and then back to human again and almost falls down the stairs. Again.

›› The disco ball is literally the coolest thing Drakon has ever seen. The lights! The colours! Wow!!! They could stare at it for hours.

›› Kevin and Kitten dance, and Drakon and Kevin dance, and Kitten and his roommate dance, and Drakon plays their harmonica and it's all so fun!

›› Drakon still doesn't want to go to the Cabin 27 - and since an opportunity to sleep somewhere other than the noisy hallways presents itself, they invite themself for a sleepover and take a nap in Kitten's cabin under the light of the disco ball.

›› Drakon tries to go to their own cabin, but Mia, Jolene and Les - primarly Ezra's friends - are already there. Les is yelling about the marriage thing once more, and Drakon escapes before they can shift again (and just misses Kevin also arriving).

›› Drakon runs to Pimeä again, afraid that they can't keep their human form and feeling like they're losing control of everything. Ezra finds them there...

›› ...and Drakon has a bit of a screaming breakdown...

›› ...and for a moment it feels like they and Ezra could be okay again, because they're actually talking about what's been going wrong - about how Drakon doesn't have a problem with Jolene or Mia or anyone, that Ezra actually "hates" Mia instead of just hating him, that the talk of Les and Ezra's marriage is just lies and rumors, and how Ezra is Drakon's brother no matter how not-nice and not-normal and much of an asshole they are, and how all Drakon wants is to know these things, to not be excluded...

›› ...and it always comes down to why? And Drakon can't answer that and Ezra doesn't understand without an answer. It's going to turn into another fight and Ezra is going to leave...

›› ...and finally Drakon ends up giving him the answer: there is no dragon, and there never has been a dragon. They have always lied to him, they have lied to everyone, nothing they have ever said has ever been true. They don't really exist, there is no Drakon...

›› ...then there is only the frog, and frogs don't understand human language or tears. The frog runs off and leaves Ezra crying and screaming after it.

›› Drakon finally returns home to the Cabin 27, dives straight under the bed and turns back into a heartbroken human, who thinks that they've ruined everything and lost Ezra forever. Kevin is sleeping, but Les notices them and tries to find out what's wrong...

›› ... and Drakon is suddenly so fucking mad at them. Les was the one spreading that stupid marriage rumor that started all of this. Les was the one yelling about it earlier. It is all Les's fault!!!

›› Drakon crawls from under the bed and k i c k s Les. Hard. In the face. There's blood and everything.

›› And they immediately regret it, and Les is hugging them and it isn't Les's fault, not really oh god what have they done who kicks their friends they're sorry they're sorry they're so so sorry

›› The commotion wakes up Kevin, and she and Les manage to calm somewhat hysterical Drakon down a bit. Les falls asleep, and Drakon stops crying...

›› ...and pretty much immediately gets into a fight with Kevin, when she wants to know what's wrong and ends up saying that they're not real friends if Drakon doesn't talk - or at least that's what Drakon hears being implied.

›› At least this time, instead of running away, they just lock themself in the bathroom...

›› ...and since there's no escaping from there, they and Kevin actually end up talking and making up.

© lenni

›› As there is no graveyard in Torni, and the dead are just thrown off from the top, someone gets the idea of making a memorial wall in one of the floors - a wall where everyone can write the names of the people they've lost.

›› Even tho no one has died, Drakon draws a tiny dragon and a happy snake there. It feels like they - Drakon & Ezra, as a unit, as brothers - are gone forever.

›› But Torni is just twelve floors and Drakon is bound to run into Ezra sooner or later. And this time - finally - neither of them leaves. It feels like they're talking in two different languages at first, which is absurd, because it's Ezra, and Drakon has always understood Ezra the best. But they actually talk...

›› ...and it's hard and they are both so broken and so lost, but at least they actually say what they mean, and it does get a little better. They start building something new from the broken pieces, and learning how to be siblings again.

›› There's a strange black container in the area where supply containers come every month. But instead of supplies, there's only weird questionnare that Ezra helps Drakon fill. Drakon who never learned how to read has fun filling the free space question.

›› Drakon and Ezra might be okay, but life in Torni is never safe, and for the first time Drakon has a room of their own - a home - to lose. And when a gang leader from next door comes banging on their door talking about how Kevin has made some shady deal involving the Cabin 27, Drakon suddenly really feels how easy the cabin would be to lose - and with enough bad luck, all of their lives with it. What's a couple of teenagers against armed gangs and goons?

›› ...and instead of comforting the quietly freaking out Drakon - who was alone at first when the gang leader came knocking - Ezra just wants to go after Kevin immediately. Which okay, Drakon wants to confront her too, and they really can't let Ezra go after her alone. He already hates her.

›› Kevin says the deal is just for protection; she looks after the gang's cabin and the gang looks after their cabin. As if anything is ever just anything with gangs...

›› Drakon leaves Ezra to deal with Kevin, because they have an appoitment for a haicut. Also they don't want to deal with the whole situation.

›› Louna and Drakon buy a cool hat.

›› There is an extra supply container this month - and it's so full of glögi that there's enough for everyone. Drakon hoards three cartons for themself, meets some friends - Kitten and Louna, and they decide to have a glögi party at the Cabin 27...

›› ... but Drakon is now so fucking anxious all the time when it comes to the cabin, that every time someone even knocks on the door, they freak out. And that kinda stuff pretty much kills the party mood...

›› ...even if it's just Les's sibling, Kidi, coming to inform them that Les has decided to move out - probably because Drakon kicked them in the face. (it's not because of that, but they haven't even met after that, so what else is Drakon supposed to think?) The whole cabin feels like a burden.

what the cabin life was SUPPOSED to be!!

›› Seems like Mia isn't doing too well either, because when Drakon happens to stumble upon him, he thinks Ezra has told Drakon to beat him up. But no one tells Drakon what to do - not even Ezra, and besides Drakon would never kick-- beat anyone up.

›› But Drakon does finally demand a payment from Mia - from that time they totally saved his life - and gets four more cartons of glögi from him (Ezra's cartons, originally - not that Drakon knows that). And a crying Mia - which they don't know what to do about, so they quickly leave with their new glögi haul.

›› At least when Drakon goes home, Ezra is there. Drakon demands that hug they really wanted right after the gang leader was banging on their door...

"hug me."

›› ...and while it's great that Ezra and Kevin didn't kill each other, Ezra says that instead he "kissed Kevin. Indirectly." Drakon interprets that as Ezra actually kissing Kevin, which is w e i r d, not only because Ezra and Kevin hate each other.

"ezra kissed kevin???"

›› He also tells Drakon about him and Les fighting - which probably is the real reason Les moved out - and about kissing (also??) Mia. Drakon doesn't know what do about the Les thing (fuck Les, they're an asshole who hurt Ezra real bad - Drakon wants nothing to do with them), but at least they can finally tease Ezra about his crush on Mia, and for a moment things feel mostly fine.

›› Drakon gives Les's old key to Kevin and tells her never to mention the deal with the gang again. And that's that about that.

›› Torni's heating system breaks, and for a few days it's so damn cold...

›› ...but the Cabin 27 manages by pushing their beds together and huddling up.

›› Drakon is still convinced that someone will try to seize their cabin at any moment - as that kind of thing does happen very often. Even being near the Cabin 27 is starting to make Drakon anxious and they know it doesn't even make any sense to worry about things that might happen, but they just can't stop. Ezra doesn't understand.

›› So Drakon spends their days pretending things are just fine, and carrying all their stuff - except most of the ungodly amounts of glögi - with them everywhere.

›› After kicking them in the face and hearing about their fight with Ezra, the first time Drakon sees Les again is when they finally come to the Cabin 27 to pick up their things. Les is somehow horribly burned, but since they're just outside (probably in horrible pain, but Drakon... doesn't care? do they? they don't even know.) and Jolene is already there, Drakon just goes in...

›› ...and Ezra is already in the cabin too, but he goes out to Les even though they were supposed to be fighting, and when Drakon closes the door behind him (because of course they do - it's not like they could be in a cabin with an open door, not even for a second), Ezra starts yelling at Drakon??

›› So Drakon locks themself in the bathroom (behind two locks - the room’s and the bathroom’s - it almost feels safe) and stubbornly refuses to come out - even when Jolene and Kevin beg them to open the door and let Les at least wash their burned face. Ezra knows begging is useless.

›› Everyone leaves, but that's fine, because Drakon is behind a locked door and no one sees them shift.

›› Drakon falls asleep in the bathroom, and dreams about moving somewhere else with someone else.

›› Drakon tries to convince a roughed up gang member - one of the people who beat up Rasmus that one time, actually - that he has brain damage in the hopes of getting him to visit the Infirmary... and almost asks him to check on Les, who hopefully made it there after Drakon refused to let them in the cabin bathroom.

"hi! ur ugly, have u considered professional help?"

›› Turns out that Les is just fine - or at least fine enough to punch Ezra. He comes home with a broken nose, and Drakon expects him to yell at them for the locked bathroom thing, but he doesn't yell and doesn't punch them either. Drakon tries to set his broken nose as well as they can.

›› Half a year after the first one, there is yet another weird not-supply container. This one doesn't have a questionnare, but a recording that lists a number of people and invites them to step into the container. Fuck that, thinks Drakon who is not one of the invited nor do they know anyone who is.

›› People step into the container and the container leaves through Torni's airlock, but Drakon is way more interested in Kevin having a friendly fist fight with someone. Fun! The other fighter leaves, but no matter, it's Kevin anyway that Drakon would rather hang out with.

›› Things with Kevin are also mostly okay, but Drakon isn't sure if the band idea is so good anymore. It's not like they ever played or found more than three members to join them... It feels very much like the acting club - a very fun idea when you're planning it, but when it comes to the actual execution... forget about it.

›› Drakon doesn't usually get too close to the monthly supply containers, because after the Infirmary and the Eatery have gotten their supplies, they often turn into a damn bloodbath. Everyone is fighting with knives and teeth and claws for some probably useless trinket or another, and while Drakon loves having stuff, they haven't stayed alive in Torni by actively seeking trouble. Only if someone were to drop something...

›› But this month they see someone carrying away probably thee most perfect neon green hoodie ever. Sad about the loss of the beautiful hoodie, Drakon finds themself nearer and nearer the actual container and then inside it collecting some cartons of juice in their arms.

›› There's fighting and someone is already dying - the girl that was fighting with Kevin a while back, actually - pity, but Drakon doesn't know her so they don't really care. What they do care about is that someone closes the doors of the container from the outside and suddenly it's v e r y d a r k.

›› The doors open again almost immediately, but Drakon is properly freaked out. For those few fleeting moments they really thought they'd die... or get taken away like the people who stepped into the weird container. They don't want to go no no no. Drakon flees with five cartons of juice.

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›› then idk i guess they just live their life, and almost a year later some people manage to gather supplies to build a bomb, and blow up a hole in the side of Torni. Everyone is free to leave.

does drakon actually leave and face the world that is a lot bigger than twelve floors? or do they stay home and die, because no one is delivering supplies anymore? idk, who knows.

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