Boomslang

The talking bits in "The Devil You Know" - I Fight Dragons are almost exactly how I imagine his mask's AI voice sounding like. He avoids speaking with his real voice so nobody really knows what he actually sounds like.

 Boomslang truly is the life of the party. Not only does he DJ for his own club multiple nights a week, but he always finds a way to charm a crowd whether its through his music, jokes, conversation, or just buying everyone a round of drinks. He's not a fan of heavy planning or intricate details in everyday life, and is more likely to "play it by ear."

He isn't one to necessarily require words to spark a friendship, or to feel the need to try and fully understand the reasoning for someone else's excitement or heartache. He appreciates a silent conversation built on soulful expression and mutal respect. However, he also has a tendency to let his actions loose before he can decide whether they're appropriate or not, which has led to more than a few scuffles in his past. He's definitely one to act first and think later, and rarely heeds advise or criticism from others.

 - CHILDHOOD -

             Boomslang, whose real name is Elbi Starling, was raised by his father and mother alongside his twin brother, Elias. His father was a lawyer, and though he tried to care for his sons best he could, Boomslang often found him to be overbearing. Boomslang did however, have an excellent relationship with his grandparents who often watched him on the weekends and let him tinker with anything he liked -- don't ever ask what happened to their toaster. He had many friends in school, and was considered quite popular despite his hearing impairment, which he was occasionally bullied for. As he grew older he fell in with a bad crowd, leading to the discovery of underground bars and illicit substances.

- RECENT YEARS -

                After the first few semesters of college, a brief but heartfelt meeting with his parents inspired him to change his ways and work hard to follow his dreams, which at the time he thought laid in an engineering career. Yet, he couldn't help but be pulled back by the love of (very loud) music, much to the dismay of his roommates. Shortly after college, his grandfather passed away, and he grandmother invited him to temporarily work at her humble cafe, which he discovered held a dark secret below ground: a roaring nightclub, previously owned by his grandfather. "Never even knew it was down there! And to think I always thought he worked all those nights at the factory," his grandmother had admitted.

                As it turned out, Grandpa had amassed a huge debt with several of the city's most notorious mobs in order to support his family in earlier days. His pride had apparently been too much to turn to his children, and for their safety he kept his ties with the criminal underworld tucked away...until his sudden passing.

                With his parents and brother living in a distant city, Boomslang was chosen to take responsibility. A most notorious crimeboss presented him with a deal: Maintain ownership and order of his grandfather's club in order to work off the debt (which had become a haven and *somewhat* of a neutral ground for gangs all around the city) OR have each and every one of his family members be hunted down by an out-of-control crime syndicate.

              Soon after accepting the deal, Boomslang's talents were made clear. He was an enthusiastic, energetic, and all around entertaining DJ that would bring a face to the nightclub, raking on more cash and more traffic from other gangs. Not only that, but after observing his engineering skills and his interest in inventing, his work quickly became a staple on the black market, with no benefit to him. If he refused to create or repair whatever weapons or tools they wanted, more debt would be tacked onto his name...or worse, he'd be punished physically.

Then there came an instance where one of the mob leaders demanded he locate and tag an opposing gang member from behind the flickering stage lights of his DJ booth. Begrudgingly, Boomslang followed the order and discovered the target was a young girl who had gotton wound up in a mess of gang activity like himself. He attempted to protect her at first, but his efforts resulted in him getting his knees bashed in so grievously he had to have both legs amputated, thus resulting in the forging of his own prosthetics. (The materials from which were purchased at low prices from not-so-moral sources)

          Presently, Boomslang tries to forget his misfortunes and seeks only to maintain a carefree nightclub for everyone to kick back and enjoy the rhythms of life, all while struggling to maintain as much peace between his patrons as with he and his strict overseers...and also preventing any further pain and irreparable damage to himself, or worse, his loved ones.

•Is skilled in expression/lip reading, nevertheless he's only able to clearly pick up about 40% of a conversation, the rest is usually guesswork.

•Is very fluent in sign language, specifically ASL

•"Hears" music through vibrations--REALLY digs that bass

•His mask is equipped with speakers and is wired to process his thoughts into words via any AI voice of his choosing. It can also broadcast music and change languages.

•...but because he is still working out some bugs, it may occasionally project ALL his immediate thoughts into voice, whether he wanted them to be heard or not. It's also not uncommon for it to make grammatical errors no matter what language it's set to.

•Technically, he can speak with his actual voice, but not very fluently. He either prefers taking off his mask to use sign language, writing/texting, or utilizing the AI voice implemented in his mask. He does not appreciate when people try to get him to speak or communicate in any other way.

•When on stage, he often plays music loud enough to be able to feel its rhythm throughout his body, which results in volume so loud it causes severe hearing loss to those who get too close to the speakers.

•If he is close enough with someone, he may ask to "feel" their voice by pressing his fingers to their vocal cords

•Is impressively good at recognizing and memorizing different patterns in soundwaves, music included; his sense of touch is very keen

•Spends a lot of time and money tinkering and inventing things

•Has a Bachelor's degree in computer science and an advanced knowledge of robotic engineering

•Built his own prosthetics and his mask and visor (with the help of some "friends")

•His visor allows him to narrow in on certain faces, allowing him eagle vision in order to pick certain people out of a crowd.

•Always brings an empty red solo cup whenever attending a party he isn't hosting -- not to drink from but because it's enables him to better feel the vibrations from the music

•When he's not tinkering or mixing music (which is rare), Boomslang enjoys sitting by his window and doing small activities such as puzzles or storybooks (niether of which he ever has the attention span to finish), admiring the sunset, or watching cat videos online.

•Has a few plants around his apartment that he usually forgets to water

•Can sometimes become aggressive if he or his friends are threatened

•Believes education is a joke and college is a scam

•Is very possessive over his nightclub

•Very much a night owl; literally nocturnal

•He is equal parts human, clouded leopard, and pied butterfly bat

•Excessive amounts of either chocolate or caffeine can be toxic to him

•His prosthetic legs are removable, and can be equipped with different attachments for various activities (the ones he normally wears are suitable for walking and jogging. He has other attachments better for activities such as sprinting, climbing, and swimming)

•He always wears a soft, breathable bodysuit beneath his prosthetics to prevent chafing. 

•His fur sometimes puffs up when he's angry, nervous, or frightened

•Likes eating bugs, such as those pouches of dried crickets that come in all sorts of weird flavors like sour cream & onion, or cheese or whatever

•LOVES eating crustaceans. All crustaceans. Crabs, lobsters, crayfish...but especially shrimp, specifically coconut or tempura shrimp

•Tequila is his drink of choice

•His favorite animal is a giraffe and his favorite color is electric blue

•Secretly enjoys being petted or having his ears scratched

•For self defense, he designed his own "gun" which fires pellets containing a toxin that causes extreme tissue damage and excessive bleeding. Targets can die from blood loss within minutes. This is also where he got inspiration for his name, if you know you know :]

•Is buddies with Gnocchi. The two met out on the street during a friendly dance competition. And despite the difficulty of communicating considering both their disabilities, the two hit it off right away and have been good friends ever since.

♡Music/Rhythm

♡His Club/His Job

♡Flashing Lights/Pretty Colors

♡Black Coffee (decaf)

♡The Wind/Thunderstorms

♡Soft, Velvety Textures

♡Freestyle Dancing

♡Chill People

♡Tinkering with robotics/computers, and random appliances

♡Nighttime and Stargazing

♡His Family/Friends

×Bar Fights/Disarray In The Club

×Unneeded Violence

×Being Told What To Do/Authority Figures

×Large Greedy Corporations

×College/Education as a Whole

×When People Ask to "Turn the Volume Down"

×When People Spend Time Seeking Revenge

×Being Labeled/Judged Solely On His Disabilities

×Gangs/The Mob

×Boredom

×Mornings

×Quiet/Slow Music

Dreamdust is a nightclub that Boomslang technically "inherented" from his late grandfather. He pretends to be the owner of it but in reality it doesn't really belong to any one person or even a single group of people. The city he lives in is overrun by crime, including many gangs. The club (which is secretly tucked beneath an unassuming café) is smack dab at the center of where the largest of these crime families converge. It is the last shred of neutral territory and therefore must be run by someone who is of neutral standing.

Boomslang has since stepped into his grandfather's place as the face of Club Dreamdust...which means he's basically an indentured servant to said crime families. They utilize him, his outstanding charisma, and his talents as a DJ to uphold the nightclub, which is often used as a meeting point or a hunting ground for gangs to seek "opportunity" amongst eachother.

If he refuses to obey a request at any point in time, or he tells anyone anything about his involvement with the criminal underworld, he is subject to extreme punishment. This includes the time his kneecaps were bashed in beyond repair.

He has since been told that if he somehow serves his way out of his grandfather's debt, true ownership of the club will be turned over to him. For him, such would be a dream come true, and he would hope to clean up the club so it might house only good times between good people...but the amount of money and resources his grandfather had drawn to protect and keep their family afloat for so many years is vast, and Boomslang has never been told the exact amount...or how much time he will have to serve beneath the watchful eye of so many a dangerous individual.

ELIAS(Brother): Boomslang has a love-hate relationship with his entire family, especially his brother, Elias. The two were born approximately 18 minutes apart, with Elias being the first. Ever since the beginning, Boomslang has always felt strongly that Elias was always first at achieving everything; the "perfect" child. More successful, and significantly more loved in their parent's eyes, at least according to Boomslang. 

Elias is still a hard-working college boy working toward his Master's in Accounting, all while his "little" brother gave up on his education and has gone on to become entangled in a web of secrets, crime, tequila and turntables.

Nevertheless, the two grew up in a side of two with very few other children. Despite their quarrels they still consider each other the best of friends, and remain close.

EMIT(Father): Boomslang stopped striving for his father's attention around the time when the old man began pressuring him to "work as hard as his brother" and that it was "his duty to utilize his talents and rare intellect to better the lives of the world." Boomslang argued that music was just as beneficial to the world, but to the present day they still haven't agreed, and Emit remains disappointed in his son's withdrawal from college.

ESMERALDA(Mother): Esmeralda has always had her nose in a book or drama show on TV. She rarely salvaged enough time to create any meaningful relationship with either of her boys, but she does love them, in her own way. She cried when they moved out for college, and adored the holidays when they always returned home. Part of her knows she should've made more of an effort to connect with them, and Boomslang really doesn't hold it against her. For the most part, they always remained on good terms...until Boomslang left college and still hasn't visited home since. She fears he's angry with her, and therefore her confusion has blossomed into anger at him for "abandoning the family without a word."

GNOCCHI(Friend): Boomslang is deaf and Gnocchi is blind, yet they remain good friends and communicate using sign language (Gnocchi knows a bit and Boomslang is able to speak aloud utilizing his mask), or sometimes they just throw parties together. They met out on the street when Gnocchi challenged "anyone with a bounce in their step" to a friendly dance competition. It began with the alien dancing off against several strangers, and the loud music attracted Boomslang's attention. The two had a mad dance-off which ended with Gnocchi winning by one vote. They've been buds ever since.