Rekkuza

Recollections: Linebreaker

---

Aleksandr's apartment, Portland, Maine. Shadow.

---

The sound of the front door opening was what snapped Aleksandr out of his thoughts. He looked up from his spot lounging across the sofa and folded the letter whose pages he'd been staring at for the past few minutes.

"Well hello there, handsome stranger," he greeted with a teasing grin. "There's leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry."

A tired-looking Connor smiled at him as he took off his coat. "Hello to you too. And thanks."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, with only the sounds of Connor putting is things away and the ceiling fan filling the apartment. It was good to finally see him, Sasha thought. They'd missed each other that morning. Connor had long gone to work when he himself woke up, and would probably be long gone to sleep by the time Sasha would come home from that night's show. One of the disadvantages of working on completely different schedules he supposed, one a teacher and the other mostly living alongside the night life.

Before long, he felt something nudge his leg.

"Come on, move over so I can sit, you big lug."

Sasha obediently raised his legs enough for his husband to sit, before setting them right back down on top of Connor's.

"How was your day? And how are the kids?" He asked, getting comfortable their new sitting arrangement.

"Oh, same old, same old. Too much work, not enough time. Gonna have to grade homework at home tonight, again." Connor stretched with a groan, settling his exhausted body deeper into his seat. "As for the kids, they're about as miserable as a bunch of teenagers forced to learn calculus ever are."

Sasha chuckled. "Ah yes, dreaded calculus. Can't say I miss it."

"It's really not that bad, you know."

"Says the one crazy enough to get a degree in the stuff."

He yelped as Connor unceremoniously pinched his shin, and retorted with a rude gesture that was only met by an eye roll, before both men devolved into barely muffled laughter.

They fell into another silence as Connor turned the TV on. Sasha found his thoughts drifting back to the letter. His father, actually reaching out. He still couldn't really believe it. Over two entire decades of going no contact, with one single exception to announce his marriage, and the man has the absolute gall to try and contact him. Hell, he'd straight up been disinherited, and now he wants to talk? Every vindictive fibre of his body was telling him to ignore the letter, and let the old man deal with whatever he wanted to ask of him.

But, a small part of him insisted, what if it's genuine? What if he really regrets cutting you out of his life?

Hence his current dilemma, and why he'd been puzzling over the letter for the past week, instead of just throwing it out. The last remaining family he had that was willing to talk to him... Could he really throw it out that easily?

He was snapped out of his thought yet again by some movement in the corner of his eyes. He watched, incredulous, as the corners of the room slowly folded in on themselves, the edges blurring. The slight buzzing from the TV got louder and louder, before what seemed like a hairline fissure in the air itself appeared in front of his eyes.

"...Connor? Are you seeing what I'm-"

With a deafening shattering noise, the fissure widened, and swallowed everything around him.

---

???

---

---

Sasha felt the world violently tilt on its axis as he instantly went from supine to standing up, leaning against a wall. The feeling was dizzying, not helped by his still dozing mind. Luckily his body was more awake than he was, and he managed to grab onto the wall before he could fall down completely. He heard someone, a young lady, scream, and something else fall heavily to the floor, and then start swearing in rather colorful Russian.

"Wha..." he muttered, bleary eyes blankly staring ahead. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. "Where am... Who...?"

His eyes widened a bit as he took in the room. The bare concrete, the rumbling pipes, the thin layer of moisture seemingly clinging to every surface, the myriad of unfamiliar faces... and the conspicuous absence of one very familiar face.

His next breath caught in his chest.

"Connor? Connor, дорогой, are you there?!" He looked around the room, frantic, trying to catch a glimpse of his missing spouse. "Come on... he, he was right there a moment ago, he can't... just be gone."

A rather severe-looking woman tried to catch his attention, and succeeded for a moment, until a ghost came out of another young woman, and pointed out at a dead shark monster on the floor.

His legs did give out then, the shock too much to withstand, and he heavily sat on the floor.

"Отче наш, Иже еси на небесех..." He began muttering a half-remembered Lord's Prayer. He might not have gone to church in literal decades, but what else is someone to do in that kind of situation?

Recollections: Linebreaker

Aleksandr "Sasha" Leonidov

"They call me 'Encore' because once I'm done, they're always clamoring for more."

_______________________________________________ Aleksandr Anatolyevich Leonidov ⫻ Bee Encore He/him (she/her in drag) | 47 | Russian American | 5'10'' | 170 lbs _______________________________________________ Extravagance. _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "It's hard work being this fabulous, darling." ___________________________________ Skills Acting (Drag) ⫻ Experienced in creating and maintaining a(n extravagant) persona, as well as doing improvisation, stand-up routines, dancing and lip-syncing. Sewing/dressmaking ⫻ Experienced in making his own stage costumes, wigs and dresses from scratch, and altering them as needed. Stage makeup ⫻ Experienced in doing his own stage makeup. With the right tools and enough time, could make someone unrecognizable, although very flashy-looking. Bilingual ⫻ Fluent in both English and Russian.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Whoever this 'other me' is, he needs better taste in clothing." Sasha's Kindle Counterpart is incredibly similar to his original body, save for a few minor differences. They have the same pale, yet warm skin tone, and the same lean build, though his Counterpart's is slightly more muscled, as if he did a bit more regular exercise. His hair, once a very dark brown, is now mostly grey. He keeps it cropped very short, in a low-maintenance, functional style, and his hairline has receded quite a bit. His eyes are dark, almost black, and his gaze can be quite intense when he's focused. Wrinkles have started appearing on his face, especially crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. At 5'10'', Sasha is of perfectly average height. He has no visible scars or piercing, unlike his original body, where he had pierced earlobes and regularly wore earrings. He also has a tattoo of a black cat lounging and playing with yarn across his side which he did not have back in Shadow. Sasha has a preference for loose, flowing clothing, floral patterns and pastels. Blouses, wide cut pants, and dresses are all part of his usual wardrobe, mixed with the usual t-shirts, polo shirts, jeans and vests. To his great displeasure, his Counterpart seems to have mostly favored comparatively drab dress shirts, hoodies and jeans. Far from fabulous, in his humble opinion.

_{Psychology
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Oh, малышка, don't cry, and tell Auntie Sasha who hurt you..."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Sasha had it all: steady, fulfilling work, a loving husband, close friends, good health, no debt... Now that he's been thrown into this life that is not his, in a world working under unfamiliar rules, all he wishes to do is to get back home.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ The world can be a dreadfully boring place sometimes. He's just trying to bring a little bit of wonder and whimsy back into it. The performance arts are a perfect way to do it, and there is no performance art more fabulous than drag, no?

SECRETS ⫻ While he doesn't exactly try to hide it, Sasha doesn't really advertise the fact that he grew up in the USSR either. Despite ending over 30 years ago, the Cold War has left its mark on the American people, and they don't always take it well. Luckily, while his name and accent usually out him as Russian right away, most people don't do the math and don't realize that with his age, that would mean being born in the Soviet Union.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Bisexual. Sasha doesn't discriminate: if they're hot, they're hot. He's currently in a very committed relationship, but being off the dating market won't stop him from playfully flirting with others from time to time.

FEARS ⫻ Most of all, Sasha fears losing the life he worked for, and the people he loves. Waking up in Kindle was the materialization of all those fears.

REPUTATION IN SHADOW ⫻ Bee Encore is a well-known queen in the drag scene, though nowhere even near the mainstream superstars à la RuPaul. She's been active for nearly two-and-a-half decades at this point, and has mentored many an upcoming queen. Sasha was well-liked and respected by the scene, but people outside of that whole culture sometimes found him a bit too odd, flamboyant, or effeminate for their taste.

FLAWS ⫻ Sasha has a strong vindictive streak, and will hold a grudge for any sufficiently grave perceived offence against him or people he cares about. He's also incredibly nosy, which has gotten him into trouble more than once. He tends to act a little bit too familiar with people a little bit too quickly as well.

_{Backstory
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"They say your college years are the best of your life. I say that if you really believe that, you need to learn how to have fun better!"

Aleksandr was born on January 18th, 1978, in Novosibirsk, Russia (then USSR). It was a difficult birth, and his mother sadly did not survive. Despite this early tragedy, he had a perfectly ordinary childhood, with no lack of anything. In 1991, though, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the adoption of a free-market economy, Sasha's father, a telecommunications engineer, lost his job. Faced with the incredibly rapid rise of the cost of living, he emigrated with his son to the U.S. in 1992, hoping to find better work. Sasha was 14 then.

He adapted to living in a new country and speaking a new language, relatively well. Sure, some other kids and even adults weren't too sure about the new Soviet kid on the block, but he never faced social isolation or anything like that, and made plenty of friends too. After graduating high school, he started studying accounting. It was during this period that he began performing. He had discovered his bisexuality in late high school, and made some friends, who pushed him to try out drag. Turned out he had a knack for it. He created his drag alter-ego, Bee Encore, and scored a gig hosting the weekly bingo night at his local gay bar.

He initially only meant for it to be a side-job to help pay off his degree, but Sasha quickly realized that while accounting could pay his bills, it would never be as fulfilling, as absolutely electrifying as stepping unto the stage, ready to dazzle his audience with his outfits and quick wit. As soon as he managed to find a gig that he could live off of, he dropped out of college, and dedicated his whole attention to his drag career.

His father took his only son being a bisexual drag queen about as well as an older Eastern Orthodox man would in the early 2000s, which is not well. At all. The relationship between Sasha and his father broke down, and they became fully estranged. They would not communicate for the next two decades.

Sasha met his husband, Connor, in late 2010. Sasha would always say it was "love at first sight" and that he "knew he met his soulmate" that day. Close friends knew they had both been incredibly drunk that evening, started arguing about music, and had almost started brawling over it. They got married on December 29th, 2012, as soon as same-sex marriage became legal in Maine.

Now that he's approaching his 50s, Sasha had somewhat settled. His work was steady, he had friends and a loving husband, there were no real problem in his life to deal with... The only thing messing up the peace a bit, was a letter he'd recently received from his father. In his old age, he'd been apparently overcome with regret over cutting his only son out of his life, and tried to reach out. Sasha was still debating if he should respond and how when he went to bed that day.

Then he woke up in Kindle.

_{Abstraction
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Ah, careful with those. Wouldn't want you to cut yourself open."

TYPE ⫻ Adept

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Red and purple Lux

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻

Glass Manipulation (Red) ⫻ Can manipulate, move around and throw glass in a 5 meters radius, as well as remotely shatter lager panes of glass. Shards under his control can reach a maximum velocity of around 10 km/h.

Portal Creation (Purple) ⫻ Can shatter through space to create portals linking two nearby locations together. Anything coming in from one end will come out the other as if no space separated the 2 endpoints. Sasha can also move around the openings after creation.

Through the Looking Glass (Mixed) ⫻ Can create long-distance portals by anchoring each endpoint in a pre-existing mirror. The mirrors will still function and look like ordinary mirrors, but will also be linked, and Sasha will be able to pass objects through or even fully traverse himself.

LIMITS ⫻

Glass Manipulation ⫻ Cannot manipulate shards of glass much bigger than his hand, unless he is trying to shatter a large pane of glass. Has a maximum manipulation capacity of about 30 pounds of glass. The closer a piece of glass is to his maximum control range, the less accurate and strong his control, and his max capacity is also diminished.

Portal Creation ⫻ The portals are not especially huge, with a maximum size of about one person. Like anything shattered, the edges are jagged and sharp, and might injure anyone carelessly traversing through. The portals are not very long-lasting, and will close after about 2 minutes of being opened, or if Sasha ceases to maintain them. Has a maximum range of about 20 meters.

Through the Looking Glass ⫻ The size of the portals is determined by the size of the anchoring mirror. The anchor will be destroyed if the mirror is destroyed, and will be moved if the mirror is moved. Sasha has to be present for the portals to be functionnal: other people, even allies, will not be able to use them if he is not there as an intermediary. Can only sustain about 3 pairs of linked mirrors.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)

^{Other
_{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Что, черт возьми, происходит?!"

- His favorite movies are Saw (2004) and The Fifth Element (1997).
- While he has a license, he is not a very good driver.
- He can't stand the taste or smell of seafood.
- His Kindle Counterpart is a professional clown, is unmarried, has not realized he's bisexual, and has "Dmitriyevich" as a patronymic.
- Sasha's tattoo is of his Counterpart's late pet cat.

Recollections: Linebreaker

Linebreaker lives!!! Yippee!!!

Aleksandr "Sasha" Leonidov

"They call me 'Encore' because once I'm done, they're always clamoring for more."

_______________________________________________ Aleksandr Anatolyevich Leonidov ⫻ Bee Encore He/him (she/her in drag) | 47 | Russian American | 5'10'' | 170 lbs _______________________________________________ Extravagance. _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "It's hard work being this fabulous, darling." ___________________________________ Skills Acting (Drag) ⫻ Experienced in creating and maintaining a(n extravagant) persona, as well as doing improvisation, stand-up routines, dancing and lip-syncing. Sewing/dressmaking ⫻ Experienced in making his own stage costumes, wigs and dresses from scratch, and altering them as needed. Stage makeup ⫻ Experienced in doing his own stage makeup. With the right tools and enough time, could make someone unrecognizable, although very flashy-looking. Bilingual ⫻ Fluent in both English and Russian.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Whoever this 'other me' is, he needs better taste in clothing." Sasha's Kindle Counterpart is incredibly similar to his original body, save for a few minor differences. They have the same pale, yet warm skin tone, and the same lean build, though his Counterpart's is slightly more muscled, as if he did a bit more regular exercise. His hair, once a very dark brown, is now mostly grey. He keeps it cropped very short, in a low-maintenance, functional style, and his hairline has receded quite a bit. His eyes are dark, almost black, and his gaze can be quite intense when he's focused. Wrinkles have started appearing on his face, especially crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. At 5'10'', Sasha is of perfectly average height. He has no visible scars or piercing, unlike his original body, where he had pierced earlobes and regularly wore earrings. He also has a tattoo of a black cat lounging and playing with yarn across his side which he did not have back in Shadow. Sasha has a preference for loose, flowing clothing, floral patterns and pastels. Blouses, wide cut pants, and dresses are all part of his usual wardrobe, mixed with the usual t-shirts, polo shirts, jeans and vests. To his great displeasure, his Counterpart seems to have mostly favored comparatively drab dress shirts, hoodies and jeans. Far from fabulous, in his humble opinion.

_{Psychology
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Oh, малышка, don't cry, and tell Auntie Sasha who hurt you..."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Sasha had it all: steady, fulfilling work, a loving husband, close friends, good health, no debt... Now that he's been thrown into this life that is not his, in a world working under unfamiliar rules, all he wishes to do is to get back home.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ The world can be a dreadfully boring place sometimes. He's just trying to bring a little bit of wonder and whimsy back into it. The performance arts are a perfect way to do it, and there is no performance art more fabulous than drag, no?

SECRETS ⫻ While he doesn't exactly try to hide it, Sasha doesn't really advertise the fact that he grew up in the USSR either. Despite ending over 30 years ago, the Cold War has left its mark on the American people, and they don't always take it well. Luckily, while his name and accent usually out him as Russian right away, most people don't do the math and don't realize that with his age, that would mean being born in the Soviet Union.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Bisexual. Sasha doesn't discriminate: if they're hot, they're hot. He's currently in a very committed relationship, but being off the dating market won't stop him from playfully flirting with others from time to time.

FEARS ⫻ Most of all, Sasha fears losing the life he worked for, and the people he loves. Waking up in Kindle was the materialization of all those fears.

REPUTATION IN SHADOW ⫻ Bee Encore is a well-known queen in the drag scene, though nowhere even near the mainstream superstars à la RuPaul. She's been active for nearly two-and-a-half decades at this point, and has mentored many an upcoming queen. Sasha was well-liked and respected by the scene, but people outside of that whole culture sometimes found him a bit too odd, flamboyant, or effeminate for their taste.

FLAWS ⫻ Sasha has a strong vindictive streak, and will hold a grudge for any sufficiently grave perceived offence against him or people he cares about. He's also incredibly nosy, which has gotten him into trouble more than once. He tends to act a little bit too familiar with people a little bit too quickly as well.

_{Backstory
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"They say your college years are the best of your life. I say that if you really believe that, you need to learn how to have fun better!"

Aleksandr was born on January 18th, 1978, in Novosibirsk, Russia (then USSR). It was a difficult birth, and his mother sadly did not survive. Despite this early tragedy, he had a perfectly ordinary childhood, with no lack of anything. In 1991, though, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the adoption of a free-market economy, Sasha's father, a telecommunications engineer, lost his job. Faced with the incredibly rapid rise of the cost of living, he emigrated with his son to the U.S. in 1992, hoping to find better work. Sasha was 14 then.

He adapted to living in a new country and speaking a new language, relatively well. Sure, some other kids and even adults weren't too sure about the new Soviet kid on the block, but he never faced social isolation or anything like that, and made plenty of friends too. After graduating high school, he started studying accounting. It was during this period that he began performing. He had discovered his bisexuality in late high school, and made some friends, who pushed him to try out drag. Turned out he had a knack for it. He created his drag alter-ego, Bee Encore, and scored a gig hosting the weekly bingo night at his local gay bar.

He initially only meant for it to be a side-job to help pay off his degree, Sasha quickly realized that while accounting could pay his bills, it would never be as fulfilling, as absolutely electrifying as stepping unto the stage, ready to dazzle his audience with his outfits and quick wit. As soon as he managed to find a gig that he could live off of, he dropped out of college, and dedicated his whole attention to his drag career.

His father took his only son being a bisexual drag queen about as well as an older Eastern Orthodox man would in the early 2000s, which is not well. At all. The relationship between Sasha and his father broke down, and they became fully estranged. They would not communicate for the next two decades.

Sasha met his husband, Connor, in late 2010. Sasha would always say it was "love at first sight" and that he "knew he met his soulmate" that day. Close friends knew they had both been incredibly drunk that evening, started arguing about music, and had almost started brawling over it. They got married on December 29th, 2012, as soon as same-sex marriage became legal in Maine.

Now that he's approaching his 50s, Sasha had somewhat settled. His work was steady, he had friends and a loving husband, there were no real problem in his life to deal with... The only thing messing up the peace a bit, was a letter he'd recently received from his father. In his old age, he'd been apparently overcome with regret over cutting his only son out of his life, and tried to reach out. Sasha was still debating if he should respond and how when he went to bed that day.

Then he woke up in Kindle.

_{Abstraction
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"I have no idea what's happening or what I'm even seeing half of the time, but at least I'm not totally out of the loop..."

TYPE ⫻ Aware

ABSTRACTION ⫻ None

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ N/A

LIMITS ⫻ N/A

WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)

^{Other
_{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Что, черт возьми, происходит?!"

- His favorite movies are Saw (2004) and The Fifth Element (1997).
- While he has a license, he is not a very good driver.
- He can't stand the taste or smell of seafood.
- His Kindle Counterpart is a professional clown, is unmarried, has not realized he's bisexual, and has "Dmitriyevich" as a patronymic.
- Sasha's tattoo is of his Counterpart's late pet cat.

Recollections: Linebreaker (Off-Urban Fantasy Body Swap Tale)

You can count me in chief 🫡

[Cancelled]

Aleksandr "Sasha" Leonidov

"They call me 'Encore' because once I'm done, they're always clamoring for more."

_______________________________________________ Aleksandr Anatolyevich Leonidov ⫻ Bee Encore He/him (she/her in drag) | 47 | Russian American | 5'10'' | 170 lbs _______________________________________________ Extravagance. _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "It's hard work being this fabulous, darling." ___________________________________ Skills Acting (Drag) ⫻ Experienced in creating and maintaining a(n extravagant) persona, as well as doing improvisation, stand-up routines, dancing and lip-syncing. Sewing/dressmaking ⫻ Experienced in making his own stage costumes, wigs and dresses from scratch, and altering them as needed. Stage makeup ⫻ Experienced in doing his own stage makeup. With the right tools and enough time, could make someone unrecognizable, although very flashy-looking. Bilingual ⫻ Fluent in both English and Russian.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Whoever this 'other me' is, he needs better taste in clothing." Sasha's Kindle Counterpart is incredibly similar to his original body, save for a few minor differences. They have the same pale, yet warm skin tone, and the same lean build, though his Counterpart's is slightly more muscled, as if he did a bit more regular exercise. His hair, once a very dark brown, is now mostly grey. He keeps it cropped very short, in a low-maintenance, functional style, and his hairline has receded quite a bit. His eyes are dark, almost black, and his gaze can be quite intense when he's focused. Wrinkles have started appearing on his face, especially crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. At 5'10'', Sasha is of perfectly average height. He has no visible scars or piercing, unlike his original body, where he had pierced earlobes and regularly wore earrings. He also has a tattoo of a black cat lounging and playing with yarn across his side which he did not have back in Shadow. Sasha has a preference for loose, flowing clothing, floral patterns and pastels. Blouses, wide cut pants, and dresses are all part of his usual wardrobe, mixed with the usual t-shirts, polo shirts, jeans and vests. To his great displeasure, his Counterpart seems to have mostly favored comparatively drab dress shirts, hoodies and jeans. Far from fabulous, in his humble opinion.

_{Psychology
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Oh, малышка, don't cry, and tell Auntie Sasha who hurt you..."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Sasha had it all: steady, fulfilling work, a loving husband, close friends, good health, no debt... Now that he's been thrown into this life that is not his, in a world working under unfamiliar rules, all he wishes to do is to get back home.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ The world can be a dreadfully boring place sometimes. He's just trying to bring a little bit of wonder and whimsy back into it. The performance arts are a perfect way to do it, and there is no performance art more fabulous than drag, no?

SECRETS ⫻ While he doesn't exactly try to hide it, Sasha doesn't really advertise the fact that he grew up in the USSR either. Despite ending over 30 years ago, the Cold War has left its mark on the American people, and they don't always take it well. Luckily, while his name and accent usually out him as Russian right away, most people don't do the math and don't realize that with his age, that would mean being born in the Soviet Union.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Bisexual. Sasha doesn't discriminate: if they're hot, they're hot. He's mostly only attracted to people his own age, and is currently in a very committed relationship, though being off the dating market won't stop him from playfully flirting with others from time to time.

FEARS ⫻ Most of all, Sasha fears losing the life he worked for, and the people he loves. Waking up in Kindle was the materialization of all those fears.

REPUTATION IN SHADOW ⫻ Bee Encore is a well-known queen in the drag scene, though nowhere even near the mainstream superstars à la RuPaul. She's been active for nearly two-and-a-half decades at this point, and has mentored many an upcoming queen. Sasha was well-liked and respected by the scene, but people outside of that whole culture sometimes found him a bit too odd, flamboyant, or effeminate for their taste.

FLAWS ⫻ Sasha has a strong vindictive streak, and will hold a grudge for any sufficiently grave perceived offence against him or people he cares about. He's also incredibly nosy, which has gotten him into trouble more than once. He tends to act a little bit too familiar with people a little bit too quickly as well.

_{Backstory
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"They say your college years are the best of your life. I say that if you really believe that, you need to learn how to have fun better!"

Aleksandr was born on January 18th, 1978, in Novosibirsk, Russia (then USSR). It was a difficult birth, and his mother sadly did not survive. Despite this early tragedy, he had a perfectly ordinary childhood, with no lack of anything. In 1991, though, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the adoption of a free-market economy, Sasha's father, a telecommunications engineer, lost his job. Faced with the incredibly rapid rise of the cost of living, he emigrated with his son to the U.S. in 1992, hoping to find better work. Sasha was 14 then.

He adapted to living in a new country and speaking a new language, relatively well. Sure, some other kids and even adults weren't too sure about the new Soviet kid on the block, but he never faced social isolation or anything like that, and made plenty of friends too. After graduating high school, he started studying accounting. It was during this period that he began performing. He had discovered his bisexuality in late high school, and made some friends, who pushed him to try out drag. Turned out he had a knack for it. He created his drag alter-ego, Bee Encore, and scored a gig hosting the weekly bingo night at his local gay bar.

He initially only meant for it to be a side-job to help pay off his degree, Sasha quickly realized that while accounting could pay his bills, it would never be as fulfilling, as absolutely electrifying as stepping unto the stage, ready to dazzle his audience with his outfits and quick wit. As soon as he managed to find a gig that he could live off of, he dropped out of college, and dedicated his whole attention to his drag career.

His father took his only son being a bisexual drag queen about as well as an older Eastern Orthodox man would in the early 2000s, which is not well. At all. The relationship between Sasha and his father broke down, and they became fully estranged. They would not communicate for the next two decades.

Sasha met his husband, Connor, in late 2010. Sasha would always say it was "love at first sight" and that he "knew he met his soulmate" that day. Close friends knew they had both been incredibly drunk that evening, started arguing about music, and had almost started brawling over it. They got married on December 29th, 2012, as soon as same-sex marriage became legal in Maine.

Now that he's approaching his 50s, Sasha had somewhat settled. His work was steady, he had friends and a loving husband, there were no real problem in his life to deal with... The only thing messing up the peace a bit, was a letter he'd recently received from his father. In his old age, he'd been apparently overcome with regret over cutting his only son out of his life, and tried to reach out. Sasha was still debating if he should respond and how when he went to bed that day.

Then he woke up in Kindle.

_{Abstraction
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"I have no idea what's happening or what I'm even seeing half of the time, but at least I can see it happen."

TYPE ⫻ Aware

ABSTRACTION ⫻ None

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ N/A

LIMITS ⫻ N/A

WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)

^{Other
_{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Что, черт возьми, происходит?!"

- His favorite movies are Saw (2004) and The Fifth Element (1997).
- While he has a license, he is not a very good driver.
- He can't stand the taste or smell of seafood.
- His Kindle Counterpart is a professional clown, is unmarried, has not realized he's bisexual, and has "Dmitriyevich" as a patronymic.
- Sasha's tattoo is of his Counterpart's late pet cat.

The Symphony: Modern Magic

_{13 Mourningdove Lane - April 15th}

---

Mathias watched tensely as what could only be described as a paramilitary militia set the cabin ablaze. Idiots they may be, if Ravensmere was to be believed (and he did seem to be mostly right for the moment), but they were dangerous, very well armed idiots.

"Well," he said, voice sounding a bit strained after the grim display of the burning wreck, "I suppose I should be giving my boss my two weeks, if I'm to be working for you."

He shook his hands a bit and worked his jaw as his magic molded his fangs and claws back into ordinary teeth and nails, the hint of beast pushed back in favor of simple humanity. It felt more... difficult to turn human than it did to turn into a... werewolf, or loup-garou, or whatever he was now, Mathias had found out. He didn't know why. He didn't like thinking about it too much.

"Though I'm not actually going to quit my job before seeing a decently drafted contract and proof that you can actually get me a new work visa. I'm not looking to lose almost a decade of seniority just to get deported to whatever prison the immigration police feels like sending me to." Not to mention that getting deported would almost certainly be a death sentence if those people are really on his trail. He started nervously picking at a patch of dry skin on his arm. "We can discuss my salary, benefits and severance package later. You'll see, I'm great secretary."

Now that he thought about it, the kid (and he really was just a kid, clearly not even old enough to drink around these parts) reacted a bit strongly to Ravensmere's name. He'd assumed the grandeur with which the elf had announced himself was just the result of that special kind of arrogance that came with being old and rich, but maybe there was something more there. "Are you a big deal or something, by the way?", he asked the old elf. "You'll have to pardon me, but I haven't really been keeping track of old rich Americans, unless I've had to work for them. And you don't really look like a finance guy, so... yeah. No clue."

Now, if he was to stay, he'd have to make some arrangements. He'd have to secure some long-term accomodations here in Twin Pines, and get his stuff from back in New York delivered over here. A few of his... Sunday friends back in the city would have to be notified of his move, too. Did his firearm licenses need to be renewed? Better check just in case, he had a feeling they might come in handy for more than just hunting...

"Is there a notary in town?" He asked abruptly, still deep in thought. "I need to get my will in order. Just in case..."

Rowan's question managed to snap him out of his planning. "The wilderness?" He repeated, puzzled. "I know a thing or two about the woods, yeah. It's, uh, mostly dense deciduous forest around here, if I recall. Wetlands, too. Good deer population, no bears. Why do you ask?"

Not the biome he was most versed in, but he could still get around well enough. As long as she didn't ask anything about the lake, he could probably answer. God, just thinking about it made him feel a bit queasy.

The Symphony: Modern Magic

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Ah. So clairvoyance it was. Great, the old man had actually seen everything, not just known in some general, abstract way. Not that it changed anything for Mathias, but is was a little bit embarrassing. Last week's hunt had not been his finest moment... it was difficult to look dignified when slathered with deer gore and having several panic attacks at once.

The mention of Canada, as joking as it was, sent a pang of longing through his chest. Home... Unlike most of the others gathered here, leaving the country actually was an option for him. Might not be his choice to make in a few months either, if his employers didn't renew his work visa.

"You wouldn't make it across the border," Mathias answered matter-of-factly to Lena's question. "Border security is less strict when leaving the U.S. than when coming in, but it's still a fucking pain. Not sure your little burning friend there would pass security screening. And they watch the lake like fucking hawks, so good luck smuggling yourselves across."

"Anyways, if these hunters," Mathias sneered at that last word, "are both real and as well established here as the old man says, then they no doubt have some kind of presence in Canada as well." His jaw clenched in irritation, the sharp point of his fangs cleanly piercing through the filter on his cigarette. "Wouldn't be much of an escape... And eligibility criteria for free healthcare is dependant on your permanent resident status and which province you're in, so you'd probably not even get that."

Mathias dropped and crushed his cigarette butt under his shoe, and turned back towards the old elf. "Now, you say you wanna teach us how to fight like mages. Mutually assured survival, yaddy yadda... my question is how you plan to make that happen." He looked the man up and down, unimpressed. "You haven't had your magic any longer than any of us. How are you expecting to teach us anything?" He waved his claws and further bared his fangs in a self-deprecating rictus. "Fuck, just look at me! I don't exactly scream spell-slinging potential like you people! How do you figure you're going to teach me?! Tell me to aim for the fucking jugular?! I've already figured that part out!"

Mathias forced his jaw shut with a sharp click and took two deep breaths, trying to calm his frayed nerves. Maybe he hadn't totally finished freaking out about turning into a monster, unlike what he'd claimed earlier. "Just... this is a lot." He pointed at the Benefactor. "I don't like you. I don't trust you, and I'm not sure if I should believe you. In fact, I don't trust anyone here! I don't know you people! You're all strangers!" He huffed. "Magic is real, I don't know if I'm even human anymore, I don't know anyone in this town, and I've got to go to fucking work tomorrow! And I can't skip, because if I lose my job, I lose my work visa, and if I lose my visa, I get sent back to Canada, and what will happen then, old man?!"

He buried his face in his hands with a despondent groan. He was so tired. God, why did this all have to involve him? He should just disappear into the woods, that would solve all his problems... No work, no magic, no people, and no witch hunters...

Hi im Zer.

Welcome to the guild! I hope you find what you're looking for :)

Through a Wayward Glimmer -- to a Faraway Place [Closed]

"Ah, yes! Tents! They are offerin' some, aren't they? So used to campin' with just my bed roll I'd forgotten to pick one up," Arthur said with a chuckle. "I'll help ya get settled with yer armour after."

He turned briefly, looking down to the young woman who had greeted them. "Good mornin' to ya as well, lass." He quickly looked her over, noting her expensive-looking armour and strange contraption she carried in a bag. She must be quite wealthy to afford all of those. A merchant's daughter, maybe? But then, if she wasn't in need of money, why join this expedition?

Ah, whatever. This wasn't his business. If the little rich lady wanted to risk her life for fun, who was he to stop her?

He turned back to Robert, clapping a heavy hand over his shoulder. "Now lad, better get these tents before they're all gone. The quicker we do that, the quicker I can make sure ya won't kill yerself swingin' that axe around."

Howdy!

Welcome to the guild!