[HH]: Aspen Clairmont

[ Name]: Aspen Clairmont
[ Age ]: 24 years
[ Species ]: Artic Fox
[ Birthday ]: September 22

[ Gender ]: Transmale
[ Pronouns ]: He/Him***, They/Them is alright
[ Sexual Orientation ]: Pansexual
[ Romantic Orientation ]: Panromantic

[ Personality ]:

+ Clear-headed
+ Intelligent
+ Empathetic
+ Strong-willed
= Eloquent, “Fancy"
- Secretive
- Overbearing
- Antisocial
- Forgetful

[ Likes + Dislikes ]:
Likes
* Reading
* Chilly weather
* New book smell!
* Cleanliness
* Flowers
* Meditation
* Maple (tree or lion? We just dont know. We don’t know)

Dislikes
* Transphobes
* Snakes
* Dirt (getting dirty, getting his clothes stained) (this is debatable; he’s willing to get dirty sometimes!)
* Sweets
* Rats
* Sticky foods!!! >:-P

[ Hobbies ]:
* Reading
* Meditating
* Weaving (ex: baskets)

[ Hometown ]: Alexandria
[ Backstory ]: TW: TRANSPHOBIA, MISGENDERING, CHILD ABUSE, SURGERY MENT. , UNSANITARY, POLICE BRUTALITY, SHADY RATS, POOR DECISIONS !! READ AT YOUR OWN CAUTION

[ I. Sprout ]
Aspen Clairmont was born into a family that was already broken. His mother had gotten knocked up by his father after a one-night stand and had signed off her rights to her baby (named “Aspen” as a last-second decision for her son’s black and white colouring) at birth, which left her then-daughter to a surprised and begrudging father, who went by the name of Jason. This would have been fine, if not for the fact that Aspen’s father wasn’t any more fit to parent than his mother; Jason was a recovering alcoholic with frequent relapses, and he had absolutely no clue how to take care of an infant. This led to plenty of neglect and abuse toward his child— constantly yelling at the baby when he cried, never changing his diaper nearly as frequently as he was supposed to, and often forgetting to feed him or spending the money for formula on beer was just the tip of the iceberg of what Aspen had to go through. Worst of all, however, was how he shook his son when the fits of crying got to be too much. Shaking a baby can lead to all kinds of developmental issues, and although nothing too horrible happened as a result to Aspen himself, he didn’t walk away unharmed, as he suffered brain damage from the physical trauma. This lead to a huge memory problem as the fox grew up—whereas most people can easily recall events and memories they’ve experienced or heard about with ease, Aspen only remembers bits and pieces of what happens to him, and he constantly mixes up when they occurred as well. Intense sensory stimulation helps, as does being in a familiar environment, but for the most part, Aspen’s declarative memory is full of large gaps and holes.

[ II. Sapling ]
Eventually, as all children do, Aspen grew up, and he never once let his memory problems drag him down. His father never helped him learn, preferring to leave his son alone while he went to the bar, but he did teach him how to operate the television, and sooner or later Aspen was able to find the educational channels meant for children. He ate all of the information up, and as soon he figured out what a “library” was he pestered his dad to take him there every day. Surprisingly, Jason was actually amicable with doing so; Aspen would be watched properly there, and he could pick him up after a day of sleeping in or drinking and meeting up with his continuous one-night stands.
So, that’s how it went for a few years, even after Aspen quickly tore through all of the basics and was enrolled into school. Every day, his father would take him to the library after school, and pick him up late at night. Aspen never really developed a relationship with his father, but at least he had his books! Plus, he could always play with the other kids that came to the library and his friends at school…so, as far as Aspen was considered, he thought he was a perfectly normal kid.

[ III. Bloom ]
This only lasted for a short while, as growth brought changes. Aspen wasn’t naiive anymore; he could see that his “family” wasn’t really a family at all. His friends had both mommy and daddy; why didn’t he? His friends’ daddies came to school for parent-teacher days, why didn’t his? His friends’ daddies told their daughters that they loved them…why didn’t his dad do the same? Aspen grew to learn that it was because his father didn’t love him at all. Jason wasn’t his father; they simply coexisted in the same space. Well…most of the time, at least. Jason had his moments—giving a stern talking to when Aspen told his dad about his first crush (a boy named DeJoun in 4th grade, Aspen liked that he was smart), and explaining about how both wanting to dress in boy clothes and liking a girl (6th grade, her name was Ye Bin) was “wrong” because he was a girl were among them. Though, for the most part, they were strangers, leaving Aspen alone and bitter.
This only increased when Jason finally settled down with someone. Due to their lack of a relationship, Aspen hadn’t known that his father had been seeing someone—had a child with someone –until after he told him that she and his new “little brother” were moving in. Being an only child for so long, he didn’t know what to think, or what to feel. Happy, because he was getting a mother? Upset, because she came with competition? When the two actually moved in a few days later, it turned out to be a mix of both. Aspen quickly grew to adore his sweet and shy little brother, almost a carbon copy of himself, but felt the same detachment he felt about Jason towards his new “mom”. So, life went on basically as it had for the past few years; Aspen, now a young teenager, was able to walk to the library now with his little brother, and he still had little to no interaction with his father and his father’s partner.
It was only later, a few years older, that Aspen discovered an important part of himself. Born a girl, he didn’t really think he had a choice about what gender he could be. Due to his father’s adamant view on his sexuality, he didn’t really think he had a choice about that, either, until he saw a news report on television about the “LGBTQA+” community. Apparently, there was such a thing as loving someone of the same gender, and there was such a thing as becoming a different gender, too. The idea excited him, and the more research he did, the more the excitement grew. He quickly learned that the feeling inside of him, of not fitting into his own skin—of his own gender —wasn’t something he had to feel at all. Aspen had never felt like a girl, and he didn’t have to be one. Aspen hadn’t ever felt attraction towards only one gender, and there wasn’t any written rule that he was required to! The more he learned, the more he fell in love with the idea, until eventually the fox braced himself to tell his father about it, about how he wasn’t a girl anymore; he was a boy.
Of course, like most cishet parents, Jason was outraged. “What’s gotten into you?!” he roared, grabbing Aspen’s arm and shoving him back, “what kinda crap have you been reading?! Who are you, this little prim and proper princess, to come marching into MY house telling ME, your FATHER who’s raised you from BIRTH, this bullshit about how you’re a BOY?! You’ve got tits and a vagina—you’re OBVIOUSLY a girl, Aspen!!”
And from there it only went south. The excitement and confidence he’d felt from before vanished in the blink of an eye, and to make it worse, his father’s girlfriend suggested throwing Aspen out (“I won’t let that girl spread her filth into MY son!!”), an idea which Jason readily agreed to. Heart broken, Aspen was dumped onto the street with only a twenty dollar bill to his name.

[ IV. Shedding Leaves ]
From that day forward, Aspen hopped around from homeless shelter to homeless shelter, picking up odd jobs and such he found around the city to raise money when he could. He couldn’t ever finish school, but he made friends in the people like him he met, and he was able to start transitioning in his newfound freedom. Upon exiting the library one day (he still visited when he could), a shady rat in a trench coat approached him. Aspen was hesitant at first—it was Alexandria, even a harmless stranger was prepared to mug you – but then before he had a chance to turn away or call for help, the guy grabbed him and stole him away into the alley beside the building.
Aspen was hesitant and scared at first, because who wouldn’t be, when dragged into a dark alley, but the rat quickly explained what was going on.
“Hey kid, I see your kind around all the time,” he began, a cheesy grin plastered onto his face, “you know, uh, tr…trans? Trans-sexual? Oh, no, Transgender. I see trans peoples like you’s all the time, transbenders, an’ I can’t resist helpin’ out you’s guys look more like ya really want to, you know?” Seeing the fox’s confused expression, he went on, “I always haveta…offer my…services. You know, a little cut-cut here, a snip-snip there…good as new! Boy to a girl, girl to a boy just like that!” he laughed, snapping his fingers. “Now, I know what you’re thinkin’—‘this guysa rat, what does ‘e know? He’s probably tryina steal my liver or my kidney or somethin’ an’ sell it for drug money. Well, sir I’ve gotta say I’m awful hurt by this assumption…I only wanna help a sorry sap like you out! I can make those jugs on your chest go away in a flash, and for only fifty bucks, too!! What d’ya say??!”
Despite his apprehension, the shady guy had hit a sore spot. Aspen had been saving up for a top surgery ever since he’d come out to his father, and here was this guy, offering to do it for only fifty dollars—it was almost too good to be true. And…too good to pass up. He accepted, handing over a crumpled fifty he’d earned one way or another, and the rat led him through a maze of streets and alleys into the darker side of town until they finally reached a dead end, an alley with a crudely constructed operating table propped upright by a few boards and a few scalpels and doctors tools—actually pretty pristine, considering how dirty the rat and the alley was –on a table at its side.
“Okay, okay, I’m gonna have ta’ warn you’s,” he said, pushing Aspen gently towards the table, “I ran outta the stuff that makes ya numb…so you’re gonna have to take the pain, kapeesh? It won’t hurt a bit, I promise! I’m a professional,” he said with a laugh that Aspen suspected meant he was anything but. Still, Aspen reminded himself that he needed to not only be himself, but actually look himself, and so he reluctantly laid gingerly onto the table and stiffly unbuttoned his dress shirt, exposing what was inside. “’S too bad ya wanna get rid of these things, they’re almost cute! Oh, well, I’ve already been paid,” his ‘surgeon’ snickered, picking up the first sharp blade and beginning the operation.
It hurt like hell, but it was mostly successful—despite being ugly. The rat even suggested Aspen stay at his place, assuring him that no (trigger warning) sexual assault would happen while the fox was recovering; not having any other place to stay at the time, he agreed, figuring that the rat would be able to take care of any possible complications that happened.
Of course, he was completely wrong. Within a week, Aspen was completely feverish with an infection, and nothing the rat gave him was working to fight it off. It was only days later that he’d learned exactly what the rat’s true (and, unsurprising) motives were, as the backwards police of Alexandria busted in to take him in on the charges of being transgendered AND non-heterosexual—and it wasn’t like they didn’t have any proof, if the huge red gash on Aspen’s chest and the rat’s betraying grin speaking for itself. Still the fox fought as much as he could in his weakened state, and he got in a few bites and scratches before he was eventually restrained enough to be knocked out.
Days later, Aspen woke up completely healthy (aside from bruises and scratches) on the train as it was leaving Summervale, as if the ordeal had never even happened. Memory as blotched as usual, he had only a faint recollection of why he was there, and aside from his own feelings of foreboding, he didn’t have any reason to suspect it was more than just a vacation, yet…

[ V. New Growth ]

TBA