Gram was sitting on a park bench, chewing on his inner lip nervously as he waited for whatever this silly idea would bring him. Something that his stupid teammate Aoife had said the other day had raised his curiosity for the possibility of getting to know people through means much less awkward than trying to force himself to go to a bar while getting smashed. In theory at least. Right now, with the anticipation of waiting for someone whose face he had never seen before.
Gram had downloaded this app to his scroll called "Chancemaker", where one would create a profile and be matched with random strangers. It obviously had some safety issues at first, apparently, which resulted in it being temporarily restricted to students of the Huntsman academies for now but Gram was comfortable enough in his combat skills to deal with any potential creep.
This situation was somewhat uncomfortable due to the spontaneous nature of it. The way the app worked, it was something that you could just toogle on if you were out and about while being up for a quick coffee or anything. Every user had the opportunity to check what they were interested in and their matched would be generated accordingly. Gram, being somewhat socially awkward just checked the boxes for everything from a casual chat to a date, figuring that would increase his chances of having any social interaction. Supposedly, according to his teammate, that was just what he needed.
So now he sat there, completely unaware of what sort of person was on their way to meet up with him on this somewhat chilly autumn afternoon. The only thing he could see was the little tracker on his scroll, telling him, how much distance still separated him from his match. And they were getting closer!

It was a rather dark night in Vale, the sky was completely veiled in early spring clouds and the air was still chilly and wet from the rains the winds had brought over the city. Amidst one of the darker parts of the settlement's still bright clubbing areas was a somewhat unremarkable establishment, merely a front between more imposing brick buildings. Over the entrance hung a neon sign reading "The Dish", though the "D" seemed to have suffered some damage over the years that nobody had bothered dealing with so far, causing it to constantly flicker. In front of the building stood only a few people, clothed in mostly dark and earthy colours though some of them had bright accents woven into their outfits. Small puddles that had formed over the day, remnants of the rain, shimmered and vibrated from the vibrations of beats heard and felt from the nearby clubs and bars.
Inside, the establishment fulfilled most expectations one would have before entering it: It was dark, outdated and generally not in the best condition. Yet, it was full of people of different ages, some old and grey, others young and energetic. The Dish was definitely not a place you visit for the experience but rather somewhere people would meet up after a hard day of work or before going out to party through the night. It was something like a well known secret, a place that many people knew but still kept the charme of a niche bar. This, combined with the owner's ever-present hospitability and sense of humour made for a great hangout.
Sitting by the bar on this evening was a young man with hot pink hair, dressed in shades of pink and purple. He bobbed his head to the sound of electric guitars and drums while sipping a cocktail that probaby had been colourful once but by now mixed into a dirty shade of brown. He seemed to be waiting on someone or something, looking at a small clock behind the counter every so often.

CHARACTER

Name: Gram MacConkey

Age: 20 (Born on the 3rd day of the 9th month)

Species and Gender: Human Male

Symbol:


Occupation: 2nd Year Beacon Student

Appearance: Gram is a somewhat scrawny young man with a thick mane of reddish pink hair and purplish-blue eyes. His complexion is rather pale compared to the average Valesian and dark circles can often be seen around his eyes. His build is definitely on the lean side with only a bit of muscle mass coming from his Huntsman training. His chin is covered in short stubble most days since he usually lacks the motivation to shave.
When seen outside of school, he usually wears a set of clothes suited best for comfort and casualness while still containing a considerable bit of utility: a beany on his head, a pink jacket with purple highlights and lots of pockets on the inside over a slightly less vibrant pink t-shirt. His lower half is usually covered in a pair of grey jeans with a half-hanging belt that has a sheath for Piloflagellum on its back. His shoes are ankle-high sneakers in similar colours to his t-shirt and the accents on the jacket. His right hand is covered in a glove that can extend into Pepto-Aegis while the wrist of his left arm usually is decorated by a rainbow-coloured band.


History: Gram is the child of Fumigata Sabouraud, an Atlesian microbiologist and Zaphron MacConkey, a rogue huntsman from Vale. Fumigata, a biologist that had a questionable history of research and regularly proposed theses other scientists would laugh about as paranoid or imaginary idiocy, was obsessed with the the theory that microscopic creatures of Grimm existed and were the cause for several mysterious cases of illnesses. In her paranoia, she was obsessed with the idea of creating a perfect counter to react to her hypothetical threatening circumstance. For this purpose, she spent a long time studying the nature of hereditary semblances and the forming of semblances in general. And, while there seemed to be no real hereditary semblance running through her family, she did figure out a tendency of the Sabouraud family to develop semblances that would distribute small amounts of aura into their surroundings. Hoping to be able to combine this with an equally fitted individual, she went ahead and searched for potential partners, eventually encountering Zaphron MacConkey, a rogue Huntsman with an alcohol problem whose family tree seemed to show a similar tendency to hers, though in his case it seemed to be a tendency to develop semblances turning their aura into weapons and hazards. After establishing contact with him, he quickly agreed on a deal with her: He would give her a child for a small sum of Lien under the condition that he would hold no responsibility for the child and she’d provide him with Atlesian technology.
Nine months later, Gram was born and Fumigata early on started executing the second phase of her plan: She had figured out a (in her eyes) perfect plan to bring Gram up and push him into forming a personality that would most likely hold the properties she was hoping for.
His childhood was meticulously planned and held only the minimum amount of motherly warmth needed to not alienate him from her. She made sure he was usually isolated from children of similar age but not too isolated to not learn how to be social. She indoctrinated her child with her own sense of paranoia and hoped to make him distrusting of others and defensive through this. She also made sure to make herself the person he held dearest.
Of course, with his more than odd upbringing, people around the two of them got suspicious. They lived in a suburban area of Vale and it was well known that Fumigata was living there with a child, though Gram was only very rarely seen outside, raising the suspicion of the neighbours. Theories on their side flared up after confronting Fumigata about Gram and why he would never come out to play with the other children. She had over the years become so obsessed and paranoid that her words barely made sense to anyone outside of herself and Gram anymore. Concerned about Gram’s wellbeing, neighbours informed local authorities, causing these to investigate. Many statements of Gram’s mad mother that just would not line up later, it was eventually decided to investigate their house, in the process of which a lot of documents and studies were found, meticulously documenting Gram’s behaviour and development in a cold and calculating manner. It was quickly diagnosed that Fumigata Sabouraud’s paranoia had taken over her sanity and she was committed into an asylum while Gram was sent to live with his biological father, whose contact data was found in a document along with notes that, should this experiment fail, she would have to contact him once more.
Gram was roughly old enough to understand what was happening to him at this point and found himself in the home of an involuntary father. Zaphron’s apartment was small and located in downtown Vale. It had everything a rogue single man needed but was rather lacking to house a young teenager. And while Zaphron wasn’t exactly happy with the situation, he was still responsible enough to sleep on the couch while offering Gram the bed. Despite his agreement with Fumigata, seeing the boy in front of him was something different. He had originally become a Huntsman to help people and, even though he didn’t really want him, this child was his, even if he had no fatherly feelings for him.
The year spent with his father was a rather lonely one for Gram. Zaphron was often gone due to his job and spent most days he was in town in the various bars of downtown Vale, only returning late at night, if at all. Gram spent this time still rather isolated but managed to care for himself quite well, especially since Zaphron left him small sums of money for himself to manage his needs.
As soon as he was old enough, Zaphron proposed to Gram enrolling him into Signal, reasoning that he neither can nor wants to be the person Gram needed and that the teachers there would teach him to be a decent human being much better than he could. The thought was rather scary for Gram at first, considering that a place like that would have many more people than he was used to having around but he could also see Zaphron’s point.
His time at Signal was rather problematic at first. His lack of contact to large amounts of people put him under severe stress, causing his grades to be sub-par. He had to repeat the first two years once each and had issues with making friends at first, as well as working on his personal weapons. It took some special tutoring from the teachers to get him to form deeper friendships, which eventually ended up helping him work on his weapon as well. While his social capabilities were constantly improving, he still remained anxious and stressed around larger groups and without options to retreat and be on his own. This became especially problematic once his aura was unlocked and he discovered his semblance. Unknown to him, his mother’s plans had actually come to fruition and his semblance developed the exact way she had hoped for, even though she was locked away now, unable to reap the fruits of her work. Unfortunately, large amounts of stress seemed to be an involuntary trigger for his semblance, causing it to activate in situations where Gram was forced to be around large crowds. People near him started complaining about the smell first and quickly after started feeling sick. Gram interpreted this as another sign that he shouldn’t be around people and tried to isolate himself again, however was quickly reassured by his friends, motivating him to not isolate himself but rather work on his aura mastery and get better at controlling when his semblance activates. He has been motivated to do so ever since. This development also awakened the urge inside him to not move away from his roots but rather explore them deeper. He started putting effort into meeting his father whenever the time allowed for it and built up a sort of friendship.
Once he had graduated from Signal, he moved on to join Beacon Academy, where he got put together with his teammates. They quickly became close and important friends for him. Encouraged by this, he has only recently started  occasionally visiting his mother in the asylum, hoping to find a connection to her again, though this has mostly been a hopeless endeavour, since she seems to constantly spout paranoid nonsense whenever she is not sedated to calm her down.


Personality: Gram, while not being an antisocial individual per se, does enjoy solitude over large gatherings. He takes comfort in being around a small group of trusted friends, usually his teammates, but tends to get anxious and stressed in busy environments like parties, clubs or school gatherings. This is something heavily reflected in his semblance, granting him the ability to create a bit of a safe space around him in stressful situations.
His lack of meaningful familiar connections makes his teammates all the more important to him and he will go through great efforts to keep them safe and help them with whatever endeavour they have.
Having not had much luxury during his childhood and early teenage years, Gram developed a rather complex relationship towards money, wealth and luxury: He can get along very well under poor conditions but will struggle with a rather strong envy when confronted with someone living in overflowing luxury. He is very possessive, both of material things and people he holds dear. When someone or something like this is being threatened, he can become rather irrationally aggressive and protective, close to an obsession.

Aura and Semblance: Shiga Cloud: Gram’s Semblance allows him to convert a part of his aura into a toxic aura gas. Depending on the amount of aura he channels into this ability, the higher is the amount of gas produced in a short amount of time, allowing him to choose between a slow and subtle but constant release of gas into his surroundings or a quick but straining burst with a much higher toxicity. The Shiga Gas has a very faint purple coloration to it that is almost unnoticeable while in low concentrations but gets very visible during times of high output. Equally, the scent can be described akin to Indole and goes from a subtle, floral smell to a nauseating fecal stench depending on the concentration in the air around him.
Mechanically, the aura cloud is closer to a cloud of fine acid rather than traditional toxin. The tiny drops of aura floating in the air react with any organic surface that isn’t directly connected to aura, making it as dangerous to fellow humanoids as it is to the creatures of Grimm, given that their aura has not been activated. As a result of this work mechanism, breathing in the poison has the highest impact on the victim as a large amount of aura gets inhaled and can directly attack on the huge surface of the lungs. An easy protection against its effects are full body suits and gas masks since those items minimize the amount of gas that can reach the vital parts of the body.
Similar to the way the gas reacts with the victim is the way it is produced. It forms on Gram’s surface, resulting in the bulk of it usually being created in his lungs and gets exhaled with his breath from there.
The gas behaves just like most gases would. It sticks to the air but can be easily dissipated by the influence of an air current or slowly dissipates by itself over time, lingering only for short periods of time.
If a person is protected by aura, the gas itself has no real effect except a highly nauseating influence when breathed in in large amounts.

Combat Behavior: During combat, Gram feels the most comfortable either in enemy frontlines or behind them, focusing on taking out or distracting priority targets, attempting to disrupt the coordination of his enemies and making it easier for his teammates to deal with the rest.
He is usually one of the first to engage, either dashing into the frontlines of attempting to get a drop on his enemy with an ambush. His ranged capabilities are limited to the range of his whip, which causes him to have to rely on his teammates to deal with far away foes, however, his natural agility and prowess with his aura make up for it, giving him the edge needed to navigate the battlefield.
As with most people of his “archetype”, Gram has a rather strong natural deficite when it comes to his defensive capabilities. He tries to make up for this with his shield but struggles with heavy hits, leaving him to still be a rather fragile fighter.
Due to the nature of his semblance, he prefers fights in closed off spaces with little to no ventilation. Out in the open he can still be a force to be reckoned with but his true potential only unfolds in confined spaces. He also prefers to keep a good distance to his teammates, not wanting to harm them with his semblance while still being able to use it freely. This rather situational and somewhat inflexible semblance makes it hard for him to utilize it in close proximity to allies and makes it a lot less effective in open spaces.

WEAPON

Name: Piloflagellum and Pepto-Aegis

Primary Form: Piloflagellum’s Primary form is that of a curved and spiked knife without many outstanding features other than the shape of its edge. A violet sheen at the base of the blade indicates the dust mechanism contained inside. A hydraulic mechanism hidden within the hilt allows the blade to be propelled forward, revealing the weapon’s secondary form.
Pepto-Aegis in its primary form is shaped like a small buckler, barely bigger than a fist. In the middle, it shows a small depiction of Gram’s symbol, under which a small dust reactor is hidden. It is made from several lamellae that overlap and can be collapsed to make the buckler retreat and act like a small plate over Gram’s right hand.

Secondary Form: Piloflagellum’s secondary form is that of a whip with a maximum length of 10 ft and the hooked edge at the very top of it. The reinforced wire sits on a spool within the hilt. In this orm, the purple dust mechanism is is fully revealed and fully functioning.

Dust Functions: The purple Dust mechanism inside Piloflagellum allows both parts to be gravitationally connected, allowing for a rapid pull between both parts of the weapon, causing either the dagger tip to be pulled back onto the hilt or, if it is stuck to something heavy or wedged into something, let Gram pull himself towards the tip with rapid speed.
The dust reactor within Pepto-Aegis is filled with hard light Dust and, upon activation, extends a roughly 15 inch wide circle of hard light around the buckler.

History: Piloflagellum and Pepto-Aegis were Gram’s first weapons and constructed by him during his first years at Signal Academy. Their relative simplicity are a product of Gram’s somewhat limited capabilities as a mechanic, the Dust mechanisms were mostly copied or inspired from his father’s weapon, a large, heavily Dust-augmented tower shield made with stolen Atlesian Tech provided by Gram’s mother. The biggest issue with them has always been the wire within Piloflagllum. It took a lot of trial and error for Gram to figure out the perfect material to provide enough flexibility while remaining as durable as possible. Eventually he figured out an alloy suited well for his purposes, having received help from a few friends of his in the process. Since then they have always served him well.