Welcome to Gaia! ::

• 00. header.
  
• 01. table of contents (you are here).
  
• 02. preston burroughs.
  
• 03. hobbies, vices & virtues.
  
• 04. agent cryptomelane.
  
• 05. miscellaneous facts.
  
• 06. family (he’d rather ignore them).
  
• 07. relationships.
  
• 08. past life: knightly wonder.
  
• 09. past life: kestrel alitaria / asshai of saturn.
  
• 10. roleplay/growth tracker.
  
• 11. ic item tracker.
  
• 12. art gallery.
  
• 13. reserved.
  
• 14. credits.

Hobbies:
all beings must suffer to become pure (Religion): This is not to say that Preston is particularly religious or spiritual himself, because he isn’t. Although (or maybe because) he comes from a deeply (he would say fanatically) religious upbringing that was primarily defined by punishment and highly restrictive rules, Preston doesn’t subscribe to any specific belief system himself. The most solid thing he believes about the divine/supernatural/what-have-you is that any superhuman beings who wish to stand in his way had best reconsider. However, despite feeling no use for nor attachment to religion for himself, Preston finds all religions fascinating with regard to their practices, beliefs, scriptures, sociocultural structures, etc. Likewise, he enjoys comparing different practices, writings, and beliefs from different groups, periods in history, etc. to trace and pick apart the patterns he might find. He may not be a believer himself, but he has no disdain for anyone else’s beliefs and would actually like to hear more about them, as much as anyone is willing to share and discuss with him. If he is allowed to attend any services or ceremonies, he always comes as a respectful, open-minded guest, because he doesn’t want to convert, but he does want to learn and understand.

no good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they’re feeling sensible (Classical & Orchestral Music, Opera, etc.): Not playing any of it, mind. The only musical education Preston’s gotten was learning to sing different songs during “Mass,” and he wasn’t very good at it. But he is an avid listener of instrumental music—whether that means older composers like Sibelius, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky, or more contemporary artists like Bear McCreary, Yo-Yo Ma, and Ramin Djawadi (he guesses Philip Glass can come too but he is easily frustrated by Glass’s minimalism). If his music does have lyrics, he strongly prefers them to be extremely dramatic and in a language he doesn’t know. He’d like to go listen to more live performances, but usually, that’s an expense he can’t afford, so instead, you can almost always find him listening to recordings on high-end headphones.

this has proven to be a complicating variable in my experiments (Tinkering, Self-Directed Mad Science, etc.): For various reasons, Preston has always struggled in science-related classroom settings. While he understands that the rules in classroom settings exist for the sake of safety, the ways that most of them have worked haven’t played nicely with the ways that he learns things best. This has kept him from pursuing higher education in a STEM field, but he still has a deep love and passion for science. So, rather than pursuing this interest in a setting that does not work for him, Preston likes working on little projects of his own design. Most of them end up being more research based than actually carrying out the experiments or observational studies that he enjoys designing—unfortunately, there are limits to what he can do about pursuing his ideas without access to labspace, which was not included with his apartment—but he has access to plenty of scientific journals, thanks to being a DCU grad student, as well as the tomes available in the DCU library. Maybe some of the experiment designs he’s written up would never pass an IRB review because they push the bounds of what most people deem “acceptable,” but that’s because most people are fools and don’t understand that there is so much more that Preston could do than modify his neighbor’s Roomba to install a voice-control.

Basically, Preston is the sort of person who walked away from Frankenstein thinking that Victor Frankenstein did nothing wrong with all the grave-robbing, corpse mutilation, and playing around with forces beyond his control. Really, his only failure was that he refused to give the Creature even the bare minimum of respect as a sapient being, but everything else was perfectly morally and ethically acceptable because it was done in the name of science.

failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose. when that happens, it becomes worthless to me (Self-Improvement): Mostly, this refers to physical self-improvement (e.g., working out regularly, keeping a healthy diet [his habit of deliberately eating things he’s allergic to notwithstanding], avoiding alcohol, narcotics, and nicotine, etc.), but it can also include challenging himself to hone his mental skills and keep them sharp (which often takes the form of research projects or puzzle games). Preston grew up a very sickly and physically sensitive child, hearing prognoses that seemed to condemn him to a life stuck with his family of origin, under the thumb of people whom he does remember loving—mostly because some part of him hasn’t stopped loving them—but who wished to control him indefinitely. He did not accept this fate. Now, with ample distance between them, Preston regularly prioritizes his physical and intellectual self-maintenance, and is always working to do better than he did the last time he tried something.


Virtues:
i will not fail. you have no power to stop me / then, they will see that they were wrong. i am *not* a defect, i am *worth* something (Driven/Hardworking): Most people have a sense of when enough is enough, and when they are allowed to give up on something……but Preston is not most people. For him, the acceptable time to give up on something is literally never. Even with projects that Preston realizes are fruitless and/or where doggedly refusing to give up might hurt him more than he wishes to acknowledge, he will press on against all common sense and redouble his efforts at making this thing happen until he is absolutely forced to acknowledge that his quest is hopeless. Should someone manage to get through to him about that, they won’t manage to break him off of wanting to make the impossible thing in question happen. At his core, Preston desperately wants to believe that if he puts enough hard work and concentrated effort into everything he does, then there is literally nothing he cannot achieve, and even letting someone drag him away from a goal for his own good won’t stop him from thinking that maybe, there is some approach to [insert problem here] that he hasn’t tried yet, and that if he did, he could fix everything.

no matter what you say, you are *not* a failure. any who discount you are utter fools / he will see what i am capable of. i will return to him victorious, *worthy* (Devoted): Preston does not trust people easily and he does not consider most people worthy of his attention—not simply positive attention, but any attention. Likewise, he has a distaste for moral and/or ideological fanaticism and is deeply suspicious of most causes that inspire people toward too much passionate yelling (not least because he wants to know how you’re doing anything effective and meaningful if you have so much time to yell at him). However, when someone or something does capture his attention, his mind, or his heart, Preston does not commit to them half-heartedly. He will risk himself and everything he has, perhaps more, to protect the people he cares about, and will dedicate his hardworking nature toward making them happy or keeping them safe. He does have a tendency to idealize the people to whom he becomes devoted, but his devotion is rarely shaken if they should fall short because he extends grace to them that he denies to most other people, himself included.

what have you done to me? / go. maybe then these memories, these imperfections, will leave me (Sensitive): Although Preston does not usually know what to do about other people’s emotions or how to react to them constructively, he does pick up on them pretty easily. Little shifts in the emotional weather register to him as much as an abrupt explosion of anger or getting glomped while someone squeals at you. Much of this is hypervigilance on his part; he had to learn to mind these minute shifts and read between the lines in order to survive, and although he tries to avoid dealing with the people who made him learn these things, he does still remember what they taught him. (Incidentally, this is also why he often does not know how to react to other people’s emotions: his immediate responses are strategies that worked with specific people, in specific situations, but that have proven maladaptive and somewhat less than effective with most other people.)

Because he can be so awkward, and because it is very easy for people to emotionally wound him in turn, Preston is probably not the best person to talk to when you’re sad. Instead, he’s the sort of person who will notice that you seem a bit off, then start doing chores that you hate doing so you don’t need to, or silently leave a comfort snack at your workspace. He won’t tell you what he’s doing—he’d honestly prefer if you didn’t point it out, either—but he will watch to make sure that his efforts are having the intended effect of easing your burdens. If they are not, he will remember it and try something different next time.

there is nothing i cannot learn, nothing i am not willing to do (Meticulous): Preston has an eye for detail and he doesn’t like letting things slip past him. When working on any given thing—a plan, a project, a self-directed scientific investigation, thinking of a gift for someone, whatever—he will scrutinize every conceivable aspect of his idea and his work, consider it from as many angles as he can imagine, and otherwise go over it with no fewer than seven different varieties of fine-toothed combs. If he needs to find something unexpectedly, he will go all over town and/or the Internet in order to find what he needs. If he needs to learn something new, he will research-binge and dig up multiple perspectives on the subject just to be sure he won’t miss out on any important information thanks to any particular writer’s biases. For most people, there is a point at which they will be satisfied with their own work, decide they’ve done enough, and break off to go chill; for Preston, that point is not permitted to enter his consideration until he’s gone through at least four revisions based on integrating new data and new perspectives.


Flaws:
perhaps he was right, perhaps i am a failure / i have never been “in a tizzy” (Moody/Volatile): Preston tries to keep his emotions tightly leashed, which is sort of a problem, especially when he naturally feels most things at volume 11,005. Trying to restrain or repress his feelings often leads to them coming out in explosive or dramatic fashions: raising his voice, knocking things over, punching doors and walls, etc. He doesn’t like how he feels during these slips in his self-control, and he hates how he feels after, but he doesn’t know very many ways of handling his intense, tumultuous emotions aside from trying to leash them up. No, it has not worked for him yet, and based on precedent, he doesn’t believe that it will. But it’s all he has, so either suggest something else or get away from him.

so i’m to understand that you have disturbed me for no reason / i am not discussing this. it is none of your concern (Reclusive): By nature, Preston is a deeply introverted person. Dealing with other people for too long exhausts him, especially if they have no respect for his boundaries and/or push his buttons in the wrong ways (the list of Wrong Ways to push his buttons is already very long and perpetually being added to), and he requires a lot of time to himself in order to keep his mind clear and his volatile emotions in check. Exacerbating this natural tendency, however, Preston is also very afraid of either letting someone in only to end up getting hurt, or letting someone in and developing a new weakness for someone else to exploit (especially if that involves hurting the person whom Preston allows himself to care about). All this leads Preston to avoid most social situations and to keep a very thick, ten-foot emotional wall up between himself and most people. He can be cordial and cooperate with people like an adult, but that doesn’t mean he has to let you get to know him. Ugh, stop trying to bond with him, please just let him go be by himself, why are you like this?!

there was a defect in me, and defects are worthless / forgive me, brother. please, take this affliction from me (Perfectionist): Although Preston has left his family of origin behind and does everything in his power to maintain his distance from them, he can’t so easily escape several of the things they taught him. The biggest emotional scar Preston carries with him is how little grace and forgiveness he is willing to extend to himself when he falls short of his own expectations (which happens pretty regularly because he sets his expectations for himself very high). For Preston, minute slip-ups feel like massive failures, unexpected problems throw his plans out of order in ways that he struggles to recover from (which often make him lose control of his temper), and if he does not meet his own expectations, then he needs to punish and berate himself so that he gets it through his head that this sort of insufficiency is unacceptable. He knows that he learned this way of treating himself from people he has disavowed, which ought to give him permission to disavow these patterns as well……but unfortunately, Preston feels like his perfectionism is a matter of life-or-death importance. Screwing up badly enough might allow his family of origin back into his life, and they might harm the people he has come to care about. This is unacceptable to him, therefore he must pursue perfection at all costs.

your days were numbered the moment you crossed me (Unforgiving): “Forgive and forget” sounds nice in theory and all, but Preston Burroughs is much more of a “Resent and remember” sort of person. As much as he would prefer for most people to think of him as someone too above-it-all to get his feelings hurt over petty nonsense, the unfortunate reality is that Preston very easily gets his feelings hurt, often over matters that don’t strike others as all that important. He takes things personally when he maybe probably shouldn’t. Because he is used to people hurting him or having hidden agendas and not caring very much about how those plans will hurt him, Preston reads things into situations that either aren’t actually there, or that might be there but aren’t as exaggerated as Preston’s mind tries to make them (e.g., someone may genuinely not have considered how their actions might affect him, but it might not have been malicious neglect on their part so much as poor impulse control or innocent negligence). When crossed in these ways, even in small ways, the wounds go deeper than one might expect and it takes Preston a long time to move past them and forgive whomever wounded him so—if he ever manages that at all.

[miscellaneous facts]

• Preston shares his birthday with, among others: Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, Utada Hikaru, Patricia Highsmith, Paul Cézanne, and Edgar Allan Poe.
  
  
• In his studies of religion, Preston has learned at least one thing that has deeply resonated with him: a Daoist proverb about refusing to accept one’s fate even when it seems inevitable, 我命由我不由天, wǒ mìng yóu wǒ bù yóu tiān, commonly rendered in English as “My fate is up to me and not the heavens.” He identifies very strongly with that saying because he grew up a very sickly and physically sensitive child, hearing that he could only ever expect himself to be so strong or to handle so much, that he’d be lucky to only live so long, that he would never be able to live without his family of origin and could never really expect to thrive outside the highly sterile safe-rooms of their home……and yet, Preston has defied all of those predictions. He has fought for his physical health and in that same spirit, he refuses to allow anyone else to define his fate for him.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵: “[Preston/Cryptomelane would die for you.]”
🎵🎵🎵🎵⚫️: “What have you done to me? There is nothing I am not willing to do for you.”
🎵🎵🎵⚫️⚫️: “We shall make them see what we are capable of.”
🎵🎵⚫️⚫️⚫️: “You may yet prove yourself to me.”
🎵⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️: “[genuine tolerance, just don’t ruin it by talking too much.]”
⚫️: “[insert frosty silence here]”
💀⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️: “[at best begrudging tolerance, your voice is like listening to a car alarm.]”
💀💀⚫️⚫️⚫️: “So, I am to understand that you have interrupted me for no reason?”
💀💀💀⚫️⚫️: “People like you are why I suffer humanity to live so infrequently.”
💀💀💀💀⚫️: “GET. *OUT*!!!!”
💀💀💀💀💀: “[You’d best protect your starseed, because Cryptomelane wants it.]”


CIVILIANS

• Jupiter Butterfly Kayne (🎵🎵🎵): “She is an agreeable coworker. Her presence eases the insufferable tedium whenever I must abandon the plants in order to assist customers.” [Jupiter is probably the closest thing Preston has to an actual friend.]
  
  
• Lucette du Matin (): [forthcoming]

NEGAVERSE

• General Amazonite (🎵🎵🎵): [forthcoming]
  
  
• General Aquamarine (🎵): [Cryptomelane has never met Aqua, but having heard that Aquamarine is responsible for instituting actual salaries for Negaverse officers—something that has materially and significantly benefited Cryptomelane personally—makes Cryptomelane feel positively predisposed toward Aqua.]
  
  
• Lieutenant Brassite (🎵🎵🎵): [forthcoming]
  
  
• General-King Faustite (🎵): [forthcoming]

ORDER

• Sailor Daedalus (💀💀💀💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Sailor Fang (💀💀💀💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Lanting, Page of Ida (💀💀💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Sailor Madriu (💀💀💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Ngome, Page of Lysithea (💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Selenga, Page of Ida (💀💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Sonora, Squire of Ida (💀): [forthcoming]
  
  
• Sailor Stribor (💀💀): [forthcoming]

DARK MIRROR

• Again, Preston hasn’t met any Dark Mirror senshi yet and wouldn’t know them from a hole in the wall, currently. But once he awakens as Cryptomelane, he won’t be looking to make friends. Dark Mirror senshi can’t be trusted because they refuse to commit to a proper alliance with the Negaverse, and they probably think they’re “better” than the Negaverse, even though all of us are empowered by Chaos. There is no such thing as solidarity with people like this.

MAUVIANS

• Hasn’t met any of these babies yet either, but he will absolutely indulge and cater to them the same as any senshi. Cats are amazing to begin with, but magical cats who know things about tech and magical science are even more amazing. Please tell him what your favorite treats are so that he may spoil you with them.

VANGUARD/VELENCIANS

• He hasn’t met any of you yet!

Name: Kestrel Alitaria. Known by most as Asshai, Knight of Saturn.

Nickname: No.

Gender/Pronoun: Cis male, he/him.

Age at Death:

Cause of Death:

Birthday: The space-math would’ve worked out to approximately November 13th.

Sign: Scorpio.

Gemstone: Citrine.

Blood Type: We all bleed red.…… Unless your species doesn’t for some reason, Kestrel supposes.

Fav. Food: (Optional)

Hated Food: (Optional)

Hobbies:
you must have guts of steel to start trouble in my territory (Official Duties):

do i have anything about me that’s worth betting (Gambling): A pastime he discovered only after learning that, as the Knight of Asshai, he is effectively “the house” within his territory—and the house always wins.

to say with a paintbrush that which cannot be spoken (Painting):

“if your beloved knew, they might feel guilty.” “then i won’t let them know i’m protecting them” (His Senshi): ……This does not mean Princess Saturn, has never meant Princess Saturn, and even remotely suggesting that would make Kestrel incredibly upset. The senshi he sees as “His” is not one to whom he swears an allegiance in the magical/faction sense; in that sense, his fealty will always belong to Asshai. Rather, she is the person to whom his heart and soul belong romantically, and she is the number one reason why he has ever been remotely derelict in his duties to his Wonder. She need only ask for his assistance and Kestrel will be at her side in an instant, ready for whatever trouble has arisen. To die for her would be his greatest honor, and if that should happen, he only hopes that his next reincarnation will be lucky enough to find her again.


Virtues:
my fate is up to me and not the heavens (Determined): By all rights, given the way that things went on Lete, Kestrel never should have survived long enough to go to the Knight Academy, much less to become Asshai of Saturn. Being born in the vast underclasses of Lete and losing his blood family very young, he has had the odds stacked against him at practically every turn. He was sickly and weak as a boy, a state of affairs exacerbated by his lack of access to proper nutrition. The only external “support” he knew before the Knight Academy came from people who exploited and abused him. It has often seemed, to Kestrel, that the universe wanted to see him fail—and he has no desire to give them the satisfaction. He applies this same survivor’s determination to all aspects of his life, refusing to let anything stop him when he sets his mind to something.

but it is the grass that hides the viper and shelters him until he strikes (Resourceful):

as above, so below, place your bets which way the head will roll (Fair-Minded):

i hope i never rest in peace, for i have a beloved who is still in this world (Devoted):


Flaws:
i will not fail. you have no power to stop me (Intransigent):

the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (Hyper-Focused):

belle marie antoinette—love the pearls; they’ll make a great tourniquet! (Vengeful):

never mind your arm, even your s**t life is worthless here (Standoffish):

PERMANENT ACCESSORIES

• Rugose Pendant: A blackened, wrinkled rock set into a silver pendant with an indigo glow trapped inside.
  
  
  • It can be found discarded in Negaspace or the Rift. To use the item, an agent or Negaverse senshi must energy drain the rock. Once drained, the rock will crack and disintegrate. The rock's violet light will then envelop the user, cloaking them in the appearance of a youma. A youma aura will overwhelm the user's natural aura, though it will not disguise their aura. Their youma appearance must adhere to youma guidelines for personal or player youma.
    
    
  • The user does not gain any special abilities while under the effects of the item, and their current abilities are not typically hampered by the item. The Rugose Pendant's effects last until the character powers down or until three hours have passed, whichever is sooner. The Pendant may be used once a day.

SINGLE-USE RP ITEMS

• 1x Almadel’s Calling Card: A glossy, white card. In elegant script, Almadel is written in shimmering opalescent ink. On the other side, a holographic circle.
  
  
  • Almadel’s personalized, magical calling card. This item can be used to summon him anywhere, any time. You simply need to place your thumb over the holographic circle on the back of the card and he will almost immediately arrive.
    
    
  • He has a unique magic that allows him to travel to otherwise difficult or impossible to reach locations. This might be an unnamed/unclaimed/random location in space. He may be able to travel to locked or inaccessible locations on Wonders or Homeworlds and he can even reach homeworlds and Wonders of Chaos locations.
    
    
  • He cannot reach some specific meta locations but he may be able to get close enough to view or observe certain conditions. Players can inquire about these but are cautioned that others may be investigating the same meta location so information is not first come first serve. Staff will attempt to give something unique for all RPs, though.
    
    
  • Every visit has a time limit; Almadel’s magic does not work for long and he can only carry one person at a time per card. He can do group RPs but all participants must have a card. This card can also be used to summon Almadel for information or for bargain/trade. This item will be earnable again in the future.
    
    
  • Because this is a very powerful ability, plots will need thorough approval with staff before use. Please PM The Space Cauldron with your character and what they would like to gain from Almadel. We will work with you to plot things out!
    
    
  • Found (Starfest 2024, “A Night At The Museum” ORP), Used (forthcoming).
  
  
• 1x Golden Vial: A vial, roughly the size of a finger, filled with slow moving golden liquid. The vial will always be in an unmarked pouch of any color or fabric and can be found discarded or hidden on Homeworlds or Wonders, within the depths of Mirrorspace, or within the Dark Kingdom.
  
  
  
  • To use this item, you must uncork the top and drink the full dose at once. Splitting the dose will yield no effects. The golden liquid tastes sweet, but has no identifiable flavor. Once emptied, the vial will heat up and the glass will appear covered with a dozen cosmetic golden hairline fracture; the vial is not damaged in this process. Drinking this liquid guarantees that you will have some memory from your most recent past life, regardless of your affiliation or faction. Even civilian characters will have a short memory of their past life.
    
    
  • Only one memory may be recovered clearly, but that night you may also have vague dreams of up to three other partial memories. Mauvians can also use this but should not have memories on Mau; youma can use this item but the memories they receive should be them as a human in their most recent life. The vial can be kept as a memento.
    
    
  • Claimed (Dec. 12th 2023; winter bingo 2023), Found (forthcoming), Used (forthcoming).

STAR CHARMS

• 2024: Amber. Fuchsia. Violet. Opal.

[placeheld]