Generate 5 Questions For The OC Above

2. Which social class did they belong to growing up? How did it affect them? Upper middle class; if such a thing existed back in USSR, that is. As much as I'd love to stick to the whole "self-made man who started from the bottom" myth, let's be real: you cannot be a CEO of an international company and not have a particular kind of family background that fueled your initial ambitions a little bit; it's not necessarily about the money, but rather about valuable connections. While Arkadiy did chew his way up through hard work and dedication, he wouldn't be able to achieve nearly as much as he did without the right people putting in a good word for him here and there; and he was granted this opportunity, thanks to his family. Arkadiy comes from a reasonably prosperous bloodline of metallurgical workers/engineers; nothing too posh, but he had it way more comfortable than the majority of his peers. He received an exceptionally good education, and he developed a taste for a selection of fine things – "great literature", nice clothing and high-quality food; these things were definitely not one's first priority back then. People were tying to survive in this country. Though, Arkadiy was never really spoiled either, for his older folks' stern attitude made it impossible for him to grow up into an indolent bastard. He's far from being a snob, and he'd hate to be mistaken for one.

27. What matters most to them right now? A good question, considering that "Arkadiy Toyhouse AU" is actually his post-storyline iteration. This man has seen shit, done shit, and got severely traumatized by shit. Considering his current... not the most pristine mental health situation, he just wants to unwind. He wants to settle down with his equally traumatized criminal husband (these two aren't even legally married but they dgaf and neither do I) and calm the fuck down. He knows full well he's never truly coming to terms with his experiences and his regrets. But he really, really wants to try.

31. What’s something they were sure would happen in their future but didn’t? Oh, this one's easy. Considering this man's notoriety and his vast list of remarkably bizarre wrongdoings, he'd surely think he'd eventually either get imprisoned for the rest of his life or, you know, die. The latter is one thing Arkadiy constantly anticipates – not because he's particularly prone to negative thinking, self-sabotage, or anything of the like. He actually loves this whole "living" thing, and he especially digs the "aging and dying without external intervention" part. For some weird reason, this man seems to get out of life-threatening scenarios in one piece – for the most part. Perhaps this reocurring, odds-defying luck is subject to change. One day.

32. Did they get married or have a family? Why? If otherwise, why not? Ah, what a great question for this guy in particular. Yes, Arkadiy was married – once. Actually, he had two drastically different motivating factors to proceed with the whole thing: "it's expected of a man my age/status" and "I love this woman to the point of mindless worshipping and dedicating my entire life to her". He was madly in love, he was obsessed; yet obsession seldom results in a happy outcome. He's been divorced for precisely two decades now; and he's still hurting, no matter the amount of achievements earned nor the importance of bonds freshly formed. The pain got less severe with time, and the entirety of his married life is now but a faint memory. But he remembers her, still. And he will make sure not to forget.

34. Are their friends still a part of their life? Are there people they are no longer in touch with, or newly important people? Strangely enough, there is at least one person who's managed to tolerate Arkadiy for more than two decades; that being his close friend Zakhar whom he got acquainted with all the way back in uni. Despite the fact that Arkadiy is the biggest extrovert known to mankind, he's quite reserved and selective when it comes to forming close bonds and friendships; yet these two get along splendidly both in terms of friendship and business, despite Zakhar being the more down-to-earth and observant of the two. God this man needs a TH profile, he's so fine. Of course, there is quite the number of people whom Arkadiy eventually had to cut ties with – or vice versa, for rather trivial reasons. As for new beginnings – well, there's Renat. They've known one another for barely two years, yet they appear to be each other's biggest source of support and acceptance. Need I say more?

15. What is their current occupation, if any, and how did they end up there? Do they enjoy it?
Still just being used as a walking database, though nowadays she's like the old lady librarian that everyone's got in their town. She does enjoy it, but she feels like she can't work to her full potential.

21. What hobby or pastime of theirs do they consider most important to them and why?
Journaling is extremely important to her. She usually writes things down to remember them and will constantly look back to just learn about herself, especially the oldest entries. 

29. Are they content with their future situation? Is there anything they would change?
Due to forgetting most things, she doesn't have much thoughts for the future. She's living in the present but stuck digging into her past.

31. What’s something they were sure would happen in their future but didn’t?
She thought her life would be a lot easier. Her job is very simple compared to the other gods, and she was always prepared to help everyone out when they needed it, so she thought her life would stay this way. Now people find the state she's in very depressing and she's frustrating to talk to, so most tend to avoid her.

33. How do they react to the changing times? Are they adaptable or do they reject modernity?
She would be very adaptable, however she seldom leaves her library in Purgatory. So, she doesn't really have to try.

7. Who were their friends during childhood? Are they still in touch with them? 
Audemus really only had one friend during his childhood, and that was a servant boy named Guillame Delos that worked for the Emilios' noble household. Guillame and Audemus were very close, so close to the point that the two were in a fledgling "relationship". They went their separate ways when they were 15 years old; Audemus went to their intended final destination of Theracarcus while Guillame diverged from the path and decided to become a farmhand in the surrounding region instead. Three years later the two would reunite when Audemus desperately needed a friend to help him in a dark time in his life. In the aftermath, the two made a questionable decision of sleeping together despite the fact that Guillame had since married. Since then their connection has been spotty, largely due to some lingering awkwardness and guilt shared between them (as well as physical distance).

17. Do they have any enemy factions or groups? Why and how are they opposed, and how do they feel about it?
Beyond Audemus' coworker Didact Gawain Vix (fuck that guy), Audemus does have some very real, very dangerous enemies. Living a sedentary life in Theracarcus, the Didact of Necromancy secretly offers clandestine resurrection services to those in the know... for a fee. Divine resurrection is a rare and powerful thing, and fickle in its applicability. But clinical resurrection is not so discerning. So Audemus can functionally reverse assassinations, and that predictably makes assassin guilds pretty unhappy.

Audemus has a bounty on his head placed there by underground organizations that see him as a threat. People sometimes attempt to cash out that bounty, but none have ever succeeded due to the combined might of Audemus and Kai's prowess and forethought. But this is just one example of many—Audemus is a man with more enemies than one might think. Owing to his already paranoid and distrustful nature, he has long grown accustomed to having a target painted on his back, and takes it in stride much as he does with everything else.

18. What kind of people do they usually interact with? Who are their friends, the people they look up to/trust, and who are their “associates”?
That's quite a long list of people. Despite being relatively asocial, Audemus is nonetheless a public figure with a large number people he manages and oversees, as well as those he works alongside. Audemus has 8 primary peers--the didacts (department heads) of the other schools of magic at the University of Theracarcus. Then, as a head of department, Audemus has a decently-sized pool of employees he oversees: both administrative staff as well as professors hired. Audemus also sometimes works with the Didact of Medicine operating out of the lesser College of Theracarcus, as well as some of her professors. He is sometimes called upon by the director of one of Theracarcus' largest hospitals in order to assist in certain surgeries or to give his opinion on particularly challenging cases. He also works with the city morgue, as is part of his legal responsibility as Didact of Necromancy. I could keep going but suffice to say Audemus has a very large pool of associates. 

Much smaller is the pool of people that Audemus actually would call 'friends'. Chief among them is Audemus' best friend, an ex-prostitute by the name of Brandy Summers who saved his life when he was 18 years old. Audemus also considers one of the other didacts--Didact Bran Ruy Erverda--to be one of his closest friends. Rozia Saxe, the butler of the Emilios villa in Theracarcus, is an old friend of both Kai and Audemus, hence why they chose to hire her as head of house staff. And then, of course, there is Guillame Delos.

19. What is their current relationship with their family?
Audemus' parents are both deceased, but prior to their assassination [see "has keeping his backstory private ever actively hurt him"] Audemus was not in contact with them. As for his current family, you can read about his relationship with the current Emilios family unit in his bio and in a bit more detail in his links.

22. What kind of place do they live in?
Audemus lives in an expansive old villa on the edge of the great cliff in Theracarcus' Hightown. It overlooks the sea. In the past I have described it as "an odd mix between a Parisian apartment, a Greek and Tuscan villa, a 'tropical-modernism' Sri Lankan house, and a Malibu mansion. In-world, its exterior is not unusual for Theracarcus [and resembles coastal Greek architecture], however Audemus' taste in interior decoration is quite specific, so the first level underwent heavy remodels. The second floor, where most of the bedrooms are, still maintains much of its original wood flooring and some softer splashes of color." The floors of the lower level, meanwhile, are almost exclusively black marble polished to perfection. Basically all of the walls of the villa are a stark white, and ornate paneling features in many places alongside built-in bookshelves. Many of the bedroom balconies are connected via narrow, steep stairways, and tiny gates have been installed to discourage bothering others.