Boz

Notes

• Funnest fact: Boz was made to replace Nessa since I deduced she was part of the reason why this story was giving me so much trouble. Though, it would seem whoever is in this position (the POV other than Janiyah) will cause me grief. I'm very indecisive about Boz; they have had many different appearances and personalities brainstormed as a result of my struggles. Their current iteration has lasted for around seven months (as of June 2026), though they were first "officially" created in October of 2024.
• Here is Boz's playlist (as in their "canonical" music playlist, what they would literally listen to). They enjoy artists such as Joy Division, Slint, and Nine Inch Nails. Otherwise, their music taste consists of genres such as post-punk and experimental rock. Read more about the details of their music taste and playlist here.
• Unfortunately, Boz—out of all of my characters—is probably the one who has the most fitting/perfect theme song. This is unfortunate because I hate them and yet they get this privilege. Alas. Anyways, I believe that it adequately summarises their character and somewhat encapsulates their aura; I routinely imagine the tale of their life in animatic form to it. This note is just here to clarify what their current theme song "means" for them.
• They have a neurocutaneous condition called Hypomelanosis of Ito. Apart from the way this visually manifests, it also causes other symptoms for them. This consists of ataxia (affecting movement, balance, difficulty with eating/talking), hyperkinesia, hypotonia, hirsutism, mild intellectual disability, epilepsy, (mild thoracic) scoliosis, and ocular abnormalities (heterochromia, hypertropia strabismus).
• They hate wearing glasses and avoid doing so. The only exception to this is occasionally allowing for the use of sunglasses, as they enjoy the sensory experience; they hate brightness.
• They were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, being concurrent with their mild intellectual disability. They show signs of borderline personality disorder. They are rather depressive, but have not received the relevant attention for this. They were diagnosed with UDD after a rather concerning incident, but they have not been receiving the adequate care to further specify their condition(s). Due to their speech issues, they are occasionally made to communicate through an AAC device; all things considered, they feel rather neutral about this.
• They are on medication for their epilepsy, which often also assists with their ataxia. They still experience the occasional focal seizure but have been free of tonic-clonics for a while (though they had never been a common occurrence for Boz anyways). They are very tired of frequently shifting medications and feel their current cocktail is efficient enough.
• They get sick often.
• Their voice is deeper than would be expected. Bear in mind that their speaking is very slurred and controlled; they don't sound nearly as witty as they'd like.
• Boz dyes their hair a lot. They are a natural ginger, but have dyed their hair a variety of both vibrant, unnatural colours and unassuming, natural colours as well. Currently, their hair and eyebrows are dyed burgundy. The process of doing so is often a messy and difficult one for them—it miraculously being one of the few tasks they seem able to do on their own—so V's eventual help with the process was appreciated.
• Due to their hirsutism, they have dark ginger facial hair. Notably, they have a "neck beard," faint goatee, and sideburns.
• Boz's battle vest has gathered patches over many years. Said patches were able to be collected mostly off of allowance money and visits to the thrift. A foster brother they “kept in contact with” also helped set them up, as he was very into the music he put them onto. They deeply value it and refuse to take it off, fearing the thought of having to leave it behind when faced with an impromptu move.
• They wear pajama pants because of their versatility: they serve as both sleepwear and outdoor wear (to them, at least). They find them comfortable and they prefer the soft texture despite its lack of compression (the ideal combination to them would be compression wear worn underneath pajama pants). The pants’ decals are typically rather juvenile in nature, both due to how they have managed to acquire them (hand-me-downs, thrift) and preference.
• The stickers for their crutches were mostly gathered through foster system centers and pediatric hospitals. The ones that relate to their interests were obtained similarly to their patches. They no longer have access to their cane. More recently, insurance provided them with a transport wheelchair.
• Considering their circumstances, Boz does relatively well in school. They deeply struggle with "applying" themself and tend to avoid rigorous study; even so, their average floats around a B. If they were afforded more resources, they could probably greatly excel. Even so, the mere idea stresses them out.
• They like to draw. Even so, their hyperkinesia makes it difficult to do so, which exacerbates the insecurity they feel regarding their art. They really like music, but are unable to process how to play instruments (and believes it would be impossible to learn anyways due to the aforementioned hyperkinesia). So, they just listen to it and wish they could be more pretentious about it.
• As per incessantly dictated to them, Boz "understands" the "value" of writing out or otherwise articulating their feelings. Their interpretation of this "coping method" was to scribble genuinely unreadable sprawls across napkins and to burn them up with a lighter. They would engage in this practise more as a way to shake their fist at the "stupid shrinks who thought this would ever work" rather than in an attempt to really cope. Even so, it's likely they still achieved some catharsis through channeling their anger towards their life circumstances into burning things up. From a meta perspective, this ritual is likely the reason why they even "entertained" the school therapist's idea to share a journal with Janiyah despite their incorrigible nature.
• They have a "quirk" where they compare or relate themselves to figures that are similar to them. For example, sometimes they'll randomly yelp out how they "will end up like Ian Curtis", though the exact figure could be replaced with any other. Similarly, sometimes they refer to themself as a "prince" to liken themself to Prince Myshkin. The way they prattle on about this kind of thing is "random" enough that their intentions are unreadable.
• It likes filming things. It managed to steal a camcorder from one of its hosts, with their home having been filled with so much shit it imagines they don't even know it's gone. Its favourite activity is to record people that don't know they're being recorded (with Boz going as far to put gaffer tape over top the recording light). It likes compiling its reels in rather "arthouse" compilations, but given its limitations (both in technology and capabilities) the results would be somewhat unintelligible.
• They like radios. While they have become used to the accessibility of music streaming, they love using radios to browse frequencies and to switch through them randomly to hear the static (or whatever comes through). For Christmas, they were given a Uniden Bearcat BCD325P2 radio scanner by a rather wealthy host family.
• They have held a somewhat passive interest in cartography. They like looking at expansive analog maps.
• They keep a pocket knife with them, discreetly gifted by a rather eccentric foster parent for protection. They tend to play with it, but would be rather incapable at "using" it in any applicable situation (maybe they could use it to open a box, but they are not physically adept enough to use it defensively). They are afraid of engaging in conflict, but are strangely captivated by such scenarios. They like watching V use it.
• The same foster parent mentioned above also taught Boz basic survival skills, though they struggle to remember and apply them.
• The same foster parent mentioned above² gifted Boz a Casio digital watch in combination with their pocket knife. They are rather obsessed with its stopwatch. He usually only gives one gift an assignment (doing so randomly entirely based on what he had at the time), but he took a special liking to Boz, for one reason or another.
• They like laying in bathtubs. They wouldn't really be able to describe why, but this preference likely came to be due to the instability of their life. Given their foster home had a bathtub, the fixture was pretty consistently shaped across homes, at least compared to the uncertainty of the accommodations offered to them.
• They used to have a beloved pig plushie that was unfortunately and forcibly left behind, lost during a move. Despite how they have a guilty love for such things, this experience has made them averse to finding a “replacement.”
• They are of Italian-American descent. The only Italian they know is from their language class.
• They have pretty severe gender dysphoria. They never believe anyone actually sees them as nonbinary and instead as just a fucked up girl. Generally speaking, they feel they're seen more as "disabled" than anything else though. Despite being friends with two trans women, they struggled with the idea of "coming out" to them. In fact, they didn't even have a name they liked, instead preferring that their two friends just didn't call them anything at all. While I am unsure on how "Boz" surfaced, V is the one who created and refers to Boz as "Ozzy."
• They are not considered attractive; while this is the case, I don't actively try to draw them in accordance with real beauty norms... they’re just not supposed to be "attractive," whatever that means. Their visibly disabled features and brash disposition likely contribute to this perception. Their way of emoting is also rather unflattering, though they do not have much control over this.
• They are of an "average" weight and have a defined figure; they prefer to hide this figure with form-obscuring clothing. Due to the nature of their weight distribution, they appear to be on the thinner side. Because eating is a physical struggle, they don't really associate any food with enough positivity to have many favourites. While they are certainly tired of eating food that has the consistency of slop, it has become somewhat “comforting” to them due to it being a consistent factor of their inconsistent life. Their favourite food is straight tomato puree.
• Boz is asexual and aromantic. What this means for them exactly is complicated.
• They would not say "handicapped" in their quote. They would use a different word; I just don't want to jumpscare anyone.

Early

Boz struggles to remember most of their early childhood at all. They've been told they were first cared for by their father, but they are unable to visualise him. Somehow, they would continue to end up in the foster care system around age six, a little "too late" when it came to their chances of securing a permanent home. They don't currently know anything about the status or whereabouts of either of their birth parents. Their mother was apparently never in their life, and they never thought to ask about their father, feeling he must be gone for good (whatever happened to him) considering he never came to reclaim or contact them. They didn't know if they had any biological siblings or other living relatives, either.

In the foster care system, Boz's experience was a mixed bag. For the most part, they were neglected and given very little mind. Some homes were better than others; in these cases, their foster parents would try to give them a stable, "normal" family environment to thrive in. Often, their already fractured sense of identity and lack of proper emotional regulation skills led to issues nonetheless. Even when the family was kind towards them, being constantly moved to new homes only made Boz believe that no one truly cared about them. It didn't matter if they were the "nice" or "uncaring" kind: it was all the same.

There were a few notable foster parents during their time, though Boz can't remember the order of them anymore. Jack Mueller was an eccentric older man who would provide his quaint bungalow to a child for an intentionally short time with the goal of teaching them the kind of skills that "kids these days don't know no more." He would take the child camping in the forest surrounding his house, teaching them how to light a fire, set up camp, identify forageable goods, and what to do when confronted with wildlife. Boz proved to be a bit of a challenge for his typical routine—considering their mental and physical disabilities—but this only seemed to result in him giving them more mind. This was especially true because Boz seemed to have interest in multiple aspects of his area of expertise. If it weren't for his commitment to being a brief assignment intended to teach basic skills, perhaps things could have been different; this kind of "what if" has only harmed Boz.

One of Boz's host families was a rather wealthy, older couple that pursued being foster parents after their adult children all became properly settled. They were sweet enough, if a little unequipped to "care" for Boz, but they had a somewhat important role in acquiring the resources Boz needed due to their upper-class gung-ho. They had also given Boz a Christmas present since they were in their care during the holidays; they received a rather pricey radio scanner.

Another host of Boz's was a borderline-hoarder that somehow qualified for being a foster parent. Boz didn't mind such conditions, as they were able to pocket a camcorder while in their "care." They assume the host has no idea it's gone.

Naturally, Boz has been placed in homes with other foster kids before. They have managed to keep in contact with a younger girl through online means.

One of Boz's older foster brothers—Mike Patel—"put them on" to more "niche" music. This seemed to be something he liked doing to every new kid cycling through his parent's home, likely because it allowed for him to fluff up his ego. Nonetheless, Mike became a revolving source for Boz to find music through and he even buys them Spotify Premium sometimes/offers them the 3 month free trial gift (as the two gently "keep contact" through Spotify's messenger). Boz would say, "This is one of the many benefits of being the ugly, sad disabled kid."

Some of Boz's homes were really bad. While they remember that this was the case, they struggle to really grasp what happened during them. Truthfully, they forget most of their assignments, and so many of them would start to morph into one foggy experience. While they were fortunate enough to have some assignments that provided them with affection or even beloved items, this would only make Boz feel more unstable and worthless as they would continue to move throughout the system despite that supposed "care." To them, there would begin to be no difference between a "good" or "bad" home, as they would both make them feel bad.

Development

Boz has had various caseworkers across their time in the system, though their unreliable memory and dissociative hazes have resulted in them not remembering most of them. Their current caseworker was a well-meaning woman named Adelina Melina who seemed dedicated to helping Boz through their final years in the system; Boz was doubtful.

When they were sixteen, Melina delivered rather shocking news: Boz had a living relative and they were going to be their next foster parent. Apparently, their father's sister had recently moved to America from Italy and Melina was able to contact her. The fact Boz even had family members in Italy was only recently uncovered as a result of Melina's investigation; Boz had a feeling they were Melina's first assignment.

Their aunt—a thirty-something year-old woman named Cinzia with a surname she shared with Boz—was rather unimpressive. While she agreed to foster Boz, her decision did not seem due to any kind of maternal instinct. She lived in a trailer park, worked as a retail clerk, and spent most of her time smoking outside doing crosswords or reading magazines; Boz thought she was awfully analog. It didn't help that the county she lived in felt stuck thirty decades in the past. Though, this really didn't bother Boz, since it meant their radio scanner would probably be able to tune into the police's older systems. Additionally, Cinzia had even offered Boz the trailer's king bedroom; overall, their assignment with Cinzia didn't seem to be so bad.

Despite her barely reacting to Boz's existence, she was somewhat "aware" of the weight of their circumstances: they were (likely) a discarded, disabled youth who is only that annoying because they've never experienced real stability. Cinzia doesn't really concern herself with being a "parent" or really "rearing" Boz—they were nearly an adult after all—but she did her best (kind of) to provide Boz with what they needed to be successful. She'd accomplish the bare minimum of providing meals Boz not only could eat (considering their issues), but also enjoy. She tried to "look out" for them, but would usually acquiesce and let Boz do whatever they wanted when met with enough resistance. Cinzia was overall a stiff and stern woman, so her surrendering was more out of exasperation than from being docile in the face of Boz's difficult nature.

While with Cinzia and going to the nearest high school to her trailer park, Boz would meet her first and only best friend. It wouldn't be the first time they were assigned a student aide, but it was certainly the most significant time. While Boz was used to being side-eyed and directed by the kind of teen that becomes a peer leader, this school seemed to approach the position of being an aide as a rehabilitative one. So, that meant the tall girl with her arms crossed in indignance was the current candidate for being their babysitter and not some soccer girl with her socks pulled over her leggings.

Said indignant girl was revealed to be Nessa Kari, evidently a rather punkish and rule-breaking student who somehow got herself in the position of needing to "give back" to her community by helping out the school's disabled population. Said population seemed to experience avoidance from the student body and staff alike, though Nessa appeared to be uniquely indifferent. Boz appreciated that: they found pity and detestment to be equal parts abhorrent.

Nessa's responsibilities mostly consisted of helping Boz navigate the school, escort them to their classes, and provide insight on "culture" and "school spirit." Their bond would be able to initially form upon them lamenting in unison over such directives: Boz, because they didn't need this kind of attention, and Nessa, because their school did not have any culture or spirit. She appreciated getting to skip some class in order to help Boz out, at least.

With time, Boz and Nessa grew close. Despite her loud and unapologetically blunt nature, they got along. It might've been due to Nessa's nature that Boz felt comfortable around her. She felt real, like she wouldn't be one to go back on her word, to leave. She cared about things that mattered—at least things that Boz assumed that mattered—and it filled Boz with feelings of purpose. Not really for themself, but to feel through watching Nessa's own passion. She was into politics, at least queer politics, and liked "refined" things like art history. She was practical, too—she liked cars and mechanics—and this appealed to Boz's own interest in more traditional, hands-on activities. They both had a judgemental streak and could bond over their own crafted towers of superiority.

Nessa also had a best friend: Janiyah Costa. Boz was rather uncomfortable with her existence, but engaged in a rare case of restraint because of how much they wanted to maintain their relationship with Nessa. All in all, the subsequent "friendship" Boz had with Janiyah wasn't that bad, but it was entirely surviving off of Nessa's presence. Janiyah was simply too passive and constructed for Boz; despite her shy nature, she possessed enough people-pleasing tendencies to have Boz associate her with her far more socially abusive counterparts. Janiyah felt "fake" to Boz, whereas Nessa felt "real." Still, as said, their actual relationship was rather neutrally charged and they were able to share plenty of non-awkward exchanges even without Nessa's presence.

For some reason, the nature of Nessa and Boz's relationship would eventually become a little confusing. This seemed to be only natural for queer teenagers, but it was an especially daunting experience for Boz, who had never even had a real friend before. If you know, you know.

Sometime during the first half of their junior year (Nessa's senior), Nessa would be found dead. Boz refused to believe whatever happened was an accident, feeling certain that she was attacked. Ultimately, it didn't matter what Boz thought: she was gone.

Given everything, Nessa's passing impacted Boz terribly. Nessa had been their first experience in trusting another person and "letting them in." Even though Nessa didn't willingly "leave," it scorched Boz all the same. They felt mad at her, mad at the world, mad at themself. Nothing felt right anymore and they were certain that was never going to change.

Recent

Boz spends most of their time moping around in their room. If they had ever felt passion for life, it was all gone now. They got even more bitter and were very uncooperative with school staff, Melina, and Cinzia. These parties were mostly understanding, as they understood what Boz must be going through, but it didn't really mean anything to them. It was all the same.

They generally didn't give Janiyah much of a hard time, but that's probably because Janiyah tried her best to stay out of the way of Boz's anger. The two would still spend school lunch together and were being driven to school by Nessa's recently-returned-from-prison brother Andrew. Nessa had only said bad things about him, but he turned out to be alright; even the socially inept Boz could identify that he meant well. The school counselor encouraged Boz and Janiyah to cope by journaling their feelings, understanding that Janiyah would otherwise bottle everything up and that Boz would channel their feelings onto more unsafe targets. They would engage in this activity by sharing the same notebook and to exchange it at least once a week, if not more often.

With Nessa's death, Boz would require a new student aide. At first, staff seemed to engage in the typical practise of enlisting students in peer leader positions to help Boz, but Boz made it a rather difficult endeavour for any of their peers to embark on. This seemed to incentivize staff to look back towards their apparent tendency to seek out underperforming students for the position. Their intentions with this recruitment process was to offer these students the chance to show their desire to improve and be part of the community.

Vincent Lorde was a rather unimpressive student that staff had checked in with due to his lackluster grades and isolated disposition. Due to this, he was on their radar when searching for Nessa's replacement: serving as a student aide for a poor and unfortunate peer would look good on his otherwise mediocre record. Unbeknownst to them, Vincent and Boz had already "met" before.

With one of Vincent's jobs being a janitorial position at the local behavioural health clinic, him and Boz would cross paths; Boz attended sessions there for the many surmisable reasons. Other than existing in the same space at the same time, Vincent and Boz would specifically encounter each other after Boz caused an "incident."

Back at school, this would mean that they recognised each other. This provided Boz with enough "security" to accept Vincent's presence; it also helped that Boz found his alternative style and levelled disposition cool. Perhaps due to this, they weren't sure why Vincent accepted being their aide. They generally assumed it was for the added benefit of being able to miss some class and leave early.

The rest is covered in the nefarious narrative. (Though some of what I've discussed in Recent are the kind of details I don't like to reveal in bios, but I've already written it, so.)