Hades Thompson

[MK Kilmarnock]

Name: James "Hades" Thompson
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Industrial music, fashion, graphic design, creative writing, flower arrangement, body modification

Appearance: Standing 5'9" tall and weighing 130 pounds, Hades has a slim build and looks rather scrawny. He has a diamond-shaped face with thin black eyebrows, a long-bridged aquiline nose, and thin lips. His hair is naturally black and is cut short in the back and the sides, but is a bit longer on the top. His bangs are allowed to grow out over the left side of his face, where they have been dyed red and fashioned into a pair of downturned 'horns'. His eyes are naturally a dark brown, but Hades chooses to obscure this as well by wearing colored contacts. While the specific contacts he wears may vary, he favors designs that look hellish and prefers red irises. Hades has several facial piercings: two rings set into his right eyebrow, a septum ring, two spider bite studs on the left side of his lip, and earring studs. He also has two nape piercings.

Hades styles himself after the scene subculture from the early 2000s. He typically wears dark clothing such as loose-fitting black jeans adorned with chains and black t-shirts that he cuts up and then puts back together with safety pins. He often wears a studded leather jacket and similarly styled fingerless gloves, though he is frequently asked to remove these in class. Hades commonly looks to be tired, with half-lidded eyes and a sleepy, stoic expression. He is quiet and lets others do the talking in social situations as much as possible, making his behavior sit in stark contrast to his aggressive manner of dress.

Biography: James Thompson was born on May 19th, 2003, in Salem, New Hampshire as the second of two sons to Margaret Fischer. Unlike his older brother Travis, James never knew his father, Roderick Thompson, who died in a car accident several months into Margaret's pregnancy. As a single mother raising two boys, Margaret's life was fraught with difficulties and she needed to rely heavily on welfare programs to make ends meet. Because of this and no longer having any ties to her current home, she moved her small family to the house of a generous friend in Lynn, Massachusetts. She only lived there briefly with a two-year-old Travis and an infant James before finding low-income housing in Salem, Massachusetts. With Massachusetts' improved social welfare programs and a wealth of seasonal odd jobs enabling Margaret to make extra cash, she managed to make ends meet.

James was a typical energetic boy growing up and he took after his older brother in a lot of ways, generally idolizing him and wanting to do what he did. The boys dabbled with sports, each of them playing soccer in elementary school, though when Travis stopped playing sports in high school due to the strain on his body as well as the questionable politics of coaches pushing star players beyond their means and schools forsaking academics and the arts in favor of athletic programs, James was sympathetic to his reasons and stopped engaging in sports soon thereafter. Since he and Travis shared a bedroom, James consumed much of the same media as his brother and grew fond of industrial bands such as KMFDM, Rammstein, Revolving Cocks, and Ministry. This shared interest between the two brothers strengthened their bond and, while they do have the occasional disagreement, the two seldom raise their voices at each other and their fights have never come to blows.

The strength of their relationship owes in no small part due to a lack of a true father figure in their life; Margaret would sometimes date, but never remarried. Additionally, Margaret spent her days working at a convenience store and during busier parts of Salem's tourism season, she would also work nights at shops downtown or at the Willows, her employment changing up from season to season. With no family in the state, she had to rely on paying for babysitters with limited funds, so as soon as Travis turned twelve she entrusted the evening care of James solely to him. Fortunately, Travis was mature for his age and felt he had to grow up fast to help take care of his brother. Instead of breeding resentment, this just made the two care for each other more.

While James could very well say Travis was his closest and longest friend, he also had friends from school and developed interests independently from his brother. Being very soft-hearted but having problems expressing it out loud, James took to reading and writing poetry starting in sixth grade. The themes of his work frequently focused on loneliness and isolation, reflecting that while he wasn't without loved ones, he still felt a disconnect between himself and several voids in his life; He never had a father, and his brother was more of a parent to him than his mother was due to her constant work. While he understood and was grateful to Margaret for the sacrifices she had to make, he still resented the weakened presence she had in his life.

Around the time Travis entered high school, Margaret started to develop some hoarding tendencies and their home became cluttered and unclean, even having a peculiar aroma. This widened the rift between her and her sons, who either stayed cooped up in their room or made excuses to get out of the house for as much as possible, which meant hanging around town or with their friends until late at night. While Travis had his sights set on starting his own musical act, James was still focused on creative writing and reading various pieces of fiction, taking a special interest in mythology, because it was something that used to be worshipped by a long-dead culture as truth. While he never developed mythology as a whole into a serious interest, he found one particular figure in Greek mythology to be particularly sympathetic in Hades, god of the underworld: aloof, isolated, lonely.

James found other, more visual ways to express himself through digital artwork and fashion. He took a computer artwork class in seventh grade which introduced him to Photoshop. For many of his projects, he created posters of bands he loved as well as some fictional ones. He obtained a cracked copy of the program for use at home and experimented with it, editing pictures of himself to make it look like he was up there on the stage. Inspired to capture that look in reality instead of just on a screen, the brothers combined their allowances and scrounged around at Goodwill, Savers, and other thrift stores to create outfits for themselves. Because of his increasing social anxieties and difficulties in verbally expressing himself, he believed the best way anybody could express themselves was through how they dressed. By eighth grade, he'd found his aesthetic by adopting the scene look of early-to-mid 2000s industrial rock and metal concerts. He also chose a new name to go with this persona, asking that everybody call him by his new name, 'Hades'.

Hades endured some teasing for his new look and his chosen name, but he stuck by it and did his best not to let the teasing bother him. By the time he entered high school, his demeanor had completely become the quiet, sullen-looking guy he would be during his senior year. Hades knew his appearance was striking, but in response to anybody acting offended by it, he simply added more to it. He grew the front of his hair out and styled it into horns, coloring it red. On a rare day off, he got his mother to accompany him to a tattoo parlor where she signed off on him getting several piercings over a three-month period, provided he could afford them himself, which he did through a combination of his allowance and going around shoveling driveways in Salem's west end during the winter. He even bought colored contacts for cheap online, though he couldn't wear them every single day as they would eventually strain his eyes. He settled instead for wearing them at least three days a week to complete the ensemble. If anybody gave him a second glance or a disturbed look, he felt a sense of satisfaction. If somebody accepted him for who he was, though, that was even better.

High school helped Hades to develop another major interest of his. With no interest in joining a sports team but wanting to get out of the house more, he entertained the idea of joining the gardening club during his sophomore year. He found the hobby to be entirely to his liking: quiet, relaxing, he could listen to music if he wanted, and there was an artistic quality to it when it came to flowers and their seemingly infinite array of colors. Arranging flowers was a refreshing departure from the black-and-red color scheme he'd emblazoned himself with, so much so that when he turned 16 he went to a local florist and asked them to allow him to do an internship there. Initially skeptical at his ability but accepting him based on a passion so contradictory to his appearance, the owner of the shop allowed Hades to work there. Soon enough, he was working paid hours after school and all day during the summer. With money of his own, a guilty Hades finally bought a legal copy of Adobe Photoshop and continued to hone his skills in graphic design.

Academically, Hades has trouble putting effort into anything he doesn't believe will affect him in life. He has passing grades in English, math, art, and home ec, but suffers in just about every other area like social studies and science. His report card can have grades ranging from A to D- depending on the subject matter, simply because Hades does not try if he doesn't see the value in doing so beyond the most token of efforts. To those who don't know him, he can appear as though he has an uncaring attitude and others might stay clear from him based on his appearance, but anybody who talks to him quickly learns he's a gentle person who is more interested in listening to the problems of others rather than talking about his own. For this reason, Hades enjoys an inoffensive and quiet spot in the school's social hierarchy as somebody who simply gives nobody a reason to fight him.

With Margaret's hoarding problem remaining prevalent, the condition of their home is in a dire state. Travis moved out to another apartment in the neighborhood as soon as he turned 18 and Hades has a desire to do the same once he graduates high school, tentatively planning to live with his brother in a small apartment until he can fully support himself as the two have remained close and continue to hang out as if they still lived together. While he loves and cares for his mother, Hades also continues to harbor resentment for the squalor his mother chooses to live in, feeling helpless to save her from her condition. As a result, Hades is concerned about his future and isn't sure if he wants to stay working with flowers for the rest of his life or if he wants to take a stab at going to school for fashion, wanting to expand and refine his avant-garde style. He doesn't spend nearly as much time writing as he used to but keeps a small notebook with him at all times to write down thoughts which he then refines into poetry before going to bed. Lines that he becomes particularly fond of are sometimes reworked into song lyrics, which he then gives to Travis to be used in some of his music.

Advantages: Hades is soft-spoken and inoffensive as a person, ensuring he will have few if any enemies. He doesn't show emotion very well, which may let him keep a poker face more easily should the situation call for it, and his slow temper makes him much less likely to make brash, dangerous decisions.
Disadvantages: Hades is empathetic and a caring person. While he's not naive, he's willing to see the best in people and help others, making him susceptible to being tricked and taken advantage of.

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Alright, Hades is looking really good and is DENIED pending just a few edits.

What year was Hades born? To be 18 at the start of the fall semester in 2021, he'd need to have been born in 2003, but that would have him turning 18 at the end of his junior year. Either his birthday or his age needs to be adjusted slightly if there's not a specific reason for him to be slightly older than most of his classmates.

How much writing does Hades do currently, and what kind (poetry, fiction, etc.)? There's no mention of this hobby after middle school.

Is Travis still living at home with his mom and brother? If not, do he and Hades get to hang out in person or keep in touch another way? Also, how is Margaret's current relationship with Hades? Has it gotten better or worse during his high school years, and how is the hoarding problem?

The strength of their relationship owes in no small part due to a lack of a true father figure in their life; Margaret would sometimes date, but never remarried which created the absence of a father figure in the children's lives.

Bit of a redundancy with the "lack/absence of a father figure" phrase here. You can take the second one of those out since it's already been stated.

but anybody who talks to him quickly learns he's a gentle person who is more interested in listening to the problems of others rather than listening to his own.

Do you mean "rather than sharing his own" or something along those lines here?

That's all I've got on a first pass, so post in here when you've made those changes, and I'll take another look at Hades!

[MK Kilmarnock]

Birth year added, fuckery with birth date clarified.

Details about his writing added. It's a diminished interest, but he still writes poetry and some song lyrics.

Details about Travis moving out added. Details about his relationship with mom clarified... it's not great.

The Redundancy Department of Redundancy has addressed the redundancy. The redundancy has been addressed. Redundancy no longer looks like a word to me.

That weird typo about sharing his fee-fees has been fixed.

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