Mattias Hellström

To put it simply, Mattias is an asshole. He thinks he's better than everyone else, puts people down, and has his own fair share of prejudiced beliefs. He's filled to the brim with toxic masculinity and unrepentantly so, though it unfortunately is encouraged within his work circles.

He has a way with charisma and is very good at figuring out what makes people tick, a skill that he usually takes advantage of in order to manipulate others. His obsessive nature and fixation on details makes him a difficult but dilligent man to work with — and a terrible partner. It's not so surprising that he's single.

Mattias has a fixation on organisation and cleanliness to a concerning degree. Although he is adept with blood magic, even the slightest bit of blood in his mouth will send him gagging and retching. Things always need to be in their respective places or he is unable to focus on anything except for righting whatever wrong there is.

He also struggles with intrusive thoughts. His coping mechanisms for these have varied over the years, but he currently vents any frustrations through his hobby, which is highly unsustainable.

At his core, Mattias is worryingly similar to his father, from his prejudiced views to his controlling nature, not to mention his penchant for drinking. He values anything that can get him to stop being present whilst also maintaining a veneer of sophistication and normalcy.

Mattias fights with a malleable blood weapon that usually takes the form of a kitchen knife. This blade is summoned by making an incision on his own body, at which point the blood magic kicks in and forms into a weapon that is so in tune with Mattias that he can transform its shape with a single thought.

His fighting style is hyper aggressive with little room for defensiveness. He's got an excessive amount of stamina and can continue to bludgeon his opponents for far longer than expected, eventually wearing them down. A single cut to his enemy's body is enough for him to drain them dry of blood, but he usually prefers to play with his prey.

Mattias was born the only child in a poor family. His father was a gruff, strong man with an unhealthy dependence on alcohol and a habit of pushing his mother around. His mother, on the other hand, was a very frail and fineboned woman. She was very sickly and was constantly unwell, though she tried to hide it from him.

Mattias' father had high expectations of him from the beginning. He instilled the need for power over others and the importance of a stiff upper lip into Mattias from a young age — some might say too young. His mother tried to preserve some of his innocence, but it was hard enough making ends meet, especially with Mattias' father spending every spare penny on drink.

As a child, Mattias would take apart little bugs and dry them on the windowsill. He would arrange and rearrange everything he could, frequently being mocked by his father for cleaning "like a good little housewife". His mother, disturbed by the way her son was growing up, would always attempt to soothe him and dissuade this behaviour.

When Mattias was a teenager, he came home to find that his mother had taken her own life. Understanding that it was the terrible treatment she faced at the hands of his father that drove her to this point, he hatched a plan to enact his revenge.

One night, he got his father especially drunk. It was then that he summoned his blood weapon for the first time, killing his own father. His father left his mark on Mattias, though: the scar and missing fang were lost during the scuffle in his dad's last moments.

Mattias was done being weak. He was done bending to the will of others — he had seen how a life of servitude drove his mother to the brink and he did not want the same for himself. He took his mother's maiden name and entered a local hatchery, filled with abandoned browbird children of all ages. At first, he would get into fights with the other children, but eventually he set his eyes on a new target: success.

If he could climb out of the crab pot, he would wield the true power of this world. Money could get him everywhere, and the best way to get it? Finance. He poured everything into studying, eventually earning a scholarship to a renowned business school where he met likeminded classmates.

Throughout these years, however, he began to suffer more and more at the hands of intrusive thoughts. Although they repulsed him, he found himself unable to block them out. His obsession with orderliness grew alongside the frequency and severity of these thoughts.

During his time at university, he found himself falling down questionable online rabbitholes. Violent videos filmed for the gratification of the viewer began to fascinate him and become his outlet for dealing with the conflicting and confusing thoughts in his head.

Years passed. He graduated business school and got a job in fund management at an affluent company, quickly gaining a reputation as a rising star. It was a long time before Mattias ever acted upon the violent thoughts he was having, but once he started, he couldn't seem to stop. It was like that was the only time when his mind was truly quiet and he was at peace. The total control sent a rush of adrenaline to his head; he couldn't stay away from this new hobby.

His wealth grew, eventually getting to the point where he could afford a flat in the lofty Sun District as well as various dingy apartments in red light districts which he used as his "studios". He continued to juggle this double life for a long time, climbing ever higher within his company as he did.

But he was bored. His job wasn't fulfilling, his pastimes grew repetitive, and he was perpetually alone — not that he would ever admit to any loneliness.

All it took was one unexpected encounter for all that he had worked towards to go down the drain. Freshly contracted to Blue, Mattias found himself dragged further and further off the gilded path he had plotted for himself.