Falco referencesheet

Text is written by me and edited by RiverRaven
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Siderian variations - 2
Happy family

Names: Falco Sætansen - I tend to call him a 'walking scrapheap' or (jokingly) a 'glitch' or 'a mess' because of his kinda odd look.
Species: Siderian (a northern, horse-sized tiger-oriental cat-lynx like feline)
Gender: male

Birthplace: the Fjordlands (aka Norway)
Birth year/date (relative to Stian’s birth year): +39
Death year (relative to Stian’s birth year): around +154; so, he gets around 115 years old which is around 85 in humans.

Family
Mother: Yava Winther Sætansen
Father: Falkner Thorden
(Twin) Sister: Winther Lærke Sætansen
Brother: Torstein Sætansen
Mate: Raldimir - a guy from the Balkan area; probably Romania (the Carpathians) 
See here the family tree Satansen Dynasty 


APPEARANCE
Appearance & reputation:Seen as quite an oddball due to his rather unusual look and sometimes his funny (bit unusual) behavior. Some find him a bit whimsical (which he isn’t really). Some find him intimidating partly due to his harsh voice, his frequent use of curse-words and his spikey look - but given his rather friendly and mostly quiet personality – most siderians like him and he’s rather easy to get along with.
Shoulder height: 1.64m  - which is slightly taller than average for a male. But relative to the size of his parents and brother, he’s quite small.
Physical description (yes this is long because he has so many oddities)
Body: bit out of proportion and a bit of a strangely shaped body. He appears rather compact, has heavy shoulders (although his shoulder blades don’t stick out much) but rather slender lower arms. Relatively long hindlegs and slightly upwards sloping (concavely curved) back.  Quite heavy body musculature (chest/back/belly). Slender, quite bony ankles but heavy lower leg musculature. Bit of a bony pelvis relative to the rest of his body. Heavy tail base and a long, often curved tail. Long neck and carries his head awkwardly high. Average paw size and shape.
Gait: walks with his head high, but trots and runs with his head lower. Bit of a playful, sometimes bit clumsy way of moving. Quite big (heavy) steps that have yet a supple touch.
Head: quite a long face with flat cheekbones that follow the curves of his rather rounded muzzle. Quite pronounced jaw musculature which gives him the typical ‘tom-face’.  Curved profile with a ‘dip/stop’ in the middle. Average to slightly flat chin. Slightly asymmetric lateral pointing and slightly backwards tilted ears (in sideview). The tips curve upwards. High “eyebrows” (that ‘circle’ from which the eye-whiskers originate). Slightly odd-eyed with one eye being deeper blue than the other.
Coat type: appears a little messy. He looks overall shorthaired, but his coat is surprisingly thick, especially in winter – which makes him look more voluminous than he really is. His fur is quite ‘spikey’, especially on the back and belly.  Very long natural mohawk that extends towards his very long (and messy) shoulder crest. Spiky tail-fur, a bit of a spiky beard and a small ridge of longer spikey hair on the backside of his ankles and arms (from the elbows halfway down, gradually shortening towards the wrists). Spikey tail fur that is rather short compared to most siderians.
Color: I haven’t figured out the genetic background of his color yet (because it’s so messy and unusual) but he appears off-black with various patches of pale dark yellowish/brownish grey that reminds me a bit of lichens. Hairs in the lighter patches tend to have some agouti banding. He has some vague spotted tabby ghost markings that are hard to see through the mottled, lichen like patches. Lighter grey paws (mostly the fingers and toes) and a light tail tip.
Jewelry & accessories:Looks like a walking scrapheap with quite some piercings in his ‘eyebrows’ and ears – which he got when he was an adolescent. He often wears a heavy chain and spiky bracelets, but he goes through periods in which he varies the style; although it’s almost always something punky and badass. I have seen periods of his life in which he wears nothing; not even his piercings.

PERSONALITY & CHARACTER

Personality and mannerisms:

MBTI personality type: INTJ - T  (the mastermind/architect/strategist)

He’s introverted and quiet most of the time. He prefers to be in the background and is a bit of a daydreamer like his mother. He mostly minds his own business and prefers to be alone or with his mate or siblings. Quite adaptive and assertive but has to think about (big) decisions; he doesn’t act on impulses.

Despite him being introverted, he has his social moods which turn him into quite a playful goofball. In these moments, he is a lot like his twin sister. He likes hanging around with like-minded friends which reveals the noisy, dominant macho clown in him - then he likes it to be the center of attention. That can be a bit surprising to those who mostly know his otherwise quiet nature. Especially because his usual big bubble of personal space is totally gone in those moods. His mannerisms are generally quite calm but when the macho clown moods kick in, he’s quite wild and bombastic. 

He’s overall quite easygoing and friendly but can have his irritable grumpy moods – especially when someone interrupts whatever he was doing or when someone tries to lecture him – that is his absolute pet peeve. When he’s irritated, he just distances himself from others, but close friends/relatives may get to see his snappy moods. He can have a bit of a temper and his sister knows well how to tease him and get under his skin. He absolutely hates injustice and that can set him off but he rarely ends up physically fighting – but when he does, he fights like a pitbull.

Towards friends he’s quite shameless and open about his sexuality but he’s otherwise rather closed and reserved about deeper personal things like his interests, some of his insecurities or other things that bother him. He’s generally quite confident and doesn’t care much about others making fun out of his oddities. However, he has zero tolerance for insults toward his mother or mate and is quite sensitive about his deeper spirituality. He only confides fully in his mate (Raldimir), mother, his youngest brother and later his sister too. Only his very closest companions get to experience his extremely affectionate and intimate side…  yes, he is quite sticky and can purr very loud. As a friend but even more so as a partner, he’s very loyal and trustworthy. Despite his introverted, rather solitary nature, he needs surprisingly much social company - he needs to be alone together.  Any harm or loss of beloved ones would hit him really hard.

Type of humor:Can have his goofy moments in which he likes to tell stories and jokes, or he gets physically playful and likes to playfight. He can sort of get drunk without alcohol – which reveals his noisy macho side that comes together with (awkward) sex jokes and many dirty words.

Voice, manner of speaking: No matter what mood he is in, his voice is just generally quite harsh, raspy/hoarse, loud and with a typical sharp layer that comes from the throat. The voice refs that match 1 to 1 are from Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) - although only a few songs really fit Falco's voice. The best album: CoB: Skeletons in the Closet.
Those voice refs also feel quite like his goofy extrovert moods:
Children of Bodom - Danger Zone www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0L-gU…
Children of Bodom – Talk dirty to me www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJhBpo…
Children of Bodom – Oops I did it again www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGtXlB…
Children of Bodom – Lookin’ out my back door www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5Rz79…
His word choice is not exactly subtle – he speaks quite directly and uses hard (often curse-) words – even in normal daily conversations (yes, he uses the word “fuck” a lot - he may have learned that from his dad). The number of dirty curse words per sentence increases even more when he’s in his goofy moods.

Sexuality: homosexual – he learned about his sexuality as an adolescent. In those years, he may have tried to flirt with a female once, only to figure out that he’s much more attracted to fellow males.  He’s strictly monogamous, extremely loyal and downright sticky. He prefers an egalitarian relation characterized by intense love in which sex is only one of the many things that they do together. He tends to be a bit dominant in the sexual context but likes to explore different (also submissive) roles.
Spirituality and philosophy: deep down he’s quite spiritual and thinks about this a lot. It first started off as him having a rich fantasy world with many characters but later he learned that this had a deeply spiritual fundament. He has many theories about reincarnation, souls and time, ancient dynasties and spiritual dimensions. He has connections to several spirits (which others may interpret as ‘characters’ or invisible friends) but he never talks openly about them and mostly keeps his spirituality hidden from friends. He only talks about this with his mother, younger brother and sometimes a bit with his mate. He told Winther once, but she did not give him the supportive or serious reaction he expected.
Aesthetics: he likes punky stuff like spikes, mohawks, leather and chains. He can consider himself extremely lucky that he has such a big natural mohawk.
Fears: quite cliché but based on just how intensely sticky he is to his mate, I think it would absolutely devastate him if he loses him. That also counts for other family members given how close he is with his family. He’s also for some reason quite scared that others may learn about his personal interests like his spirituality and fantasy and make a fool out of him.
Dreams: having his own territory and spending as much time with his mate as possible – while he remains in close contact with his beloved family. That dream mostly comes through.           
Interest, hobbies, occupation: For some reason I’ve associated him with drumming and despite his quiet nature, he likes to make some proper noise from time to time. He likes siderian made music quite a bit. Otherwise, he’s a thinker and likes to just dream away with philosophy and spirituality.  He also seems to have quite a strong interest in bugs and birds. He and his mate also participate as patrols in the Fjordland Force at varying intensity (mostly because his parents are quite active there). The Fjordland Force is a siderian organization that fights off invading humans.
Special skills: he is quite analytic and has good insight in cause-effect relations. He often manages to tactically keep himself away from trouble and danger; he calculates his moves well (when he’s not too winded up about something).

STORY

Growing up with his teasing twin sister and mischievous dad
Falco and his twin sister Winther were born in the Fjordlands, when their parents Yava and Falkner had just joined the newly established Fjordland Force that was led by General Stian. This force fought against the growing human violence against siderians. Falkner and Yava stayed involved with most of the Fjordland Force activities but they kept the cubs away from any potential danger; they stayed safely in the frequently moving camps. Falco and Winther played a lot together and were close, although their closeness sometimes resulted in quite some sibling fights. Falco was much quieter (like his mother) than his bold, naughty sister and she exploited that as an excuse to troll him. She liked to belittle him and call him “little bro”, since she was the firstborn twin. She knew exactly how to trigger Falco and make him angry and sometimes it frustrated him that his parents barely intervened when Winther went too far. Winther was daddy’s girl, so he got the most support from his mother.

Both were explorative cubs and despite Falco’s introverted nature, he made easily contact with other cubs. He found a friend in Stian’s son Jay whereas Winther got close buddies with Stian’s daughter Ekster. When they were six years old, their brother Torstein was born. Falco was quickly very fond of his little brother, especially when he discovered the many similarities between them. Their family had a rather nomadic lifestyle due to the moving camps of the Fjordland Force and sometimes, Falco wondered what his parents were really doing in this Force. However, he was quickly distracted by his own interests like bugs and his ‘invisible friends’ in his rich ‘fantasy world’. He could spend hours and hours dreaming away with that. 


Becoming a weirdo
When he reached puberty, his brother Torstein was still a kid, but Falco liked his quiet, curious nature and he assumed the role as the guarding big brother. He loved showing his little bro exiting new things and he already shared a bit what he first thought was his fantasy world. He noticed that little Torstein was quite interested in Falco’s ‘characters’, which motivated him to slip off a little more. They could also spend many hours listening to grandmother Malta’s explanations about plants and medicinal herbs. His similar aged sister had become a rebellious adolescent and her continuous teasing led to quite some fighting and rivalry between her and Falco; he never showed her anything of his ‘fantasy world’ (not after that one time) and felt that she was constantly searching for something to trigger him. When his mother Yava left for several months to join a subdivision of the Force on an expedition, he was afraid that his mischievous father and sister would team up together and cause all kinds of trouble. Fortunately, they behaved well although Falco did feel a bit like an outcast and clung even more to his younger brother (who was 7 years old by now). He and Torstein again found a bit of support in grandmother Malta.

As he began exploring his sexuality and identity, he tried to flirt with a sideress (female siderian) but he rather quickly figured that he felt far more attracted to other males, which confused him at first. He knew that this was not the norm, but his parents supported him in his personal explorations. He still liked being on his own but could also enjoy hanging around with other guys and he spent more time in metaclusters* when their family (and thus the Fjordland Force) passed by one. He wasn’t so interested in the Fjordland Force activities and was exploring his own interests and occasional goofy social moods more often. Despite the constant teasing from his sister, he also saw a fellow weirdo in her, and he was inspired to explore that same identity through wearing many piercings, chains and spiky bracelets.

A missed chance
In his late adolescent years, Falco had made friends with a guy named Kieran; a young adventurer from the Balkan region (I’m still not sure how siderians call this area) who had later fallen in love with Winther. When Falco was around 18, the Force passed by MistFjord while they were preparing a big mission to the neighboring human settlement. He was just dating another guy and they were growing a relation. However, the Fjordland Force’s mission failed, resulting in the death of several members, including Falco’s great-grandfather Matthias. His would-have-been mate had disappeared as well (I’m not exactly sure what happened but I think that he died) and Falco was quite devastated. That also dramatically changed the relation with his sister Winther and her teasing made place for (awkward) empathy. He got a lot closer to her and became downright sticky when he discovered how much he actually shared with his twin sister.


Adventures in the South
Falco’s parents still participated in most of the Fjordland Force’s dangerous missions. Humans continued to be a serious threat to siderians and the same problem was rising in Kieran’s homeland (the Balkan region). Winther purposefully joined Kieran on a travel back to his homeland to see what the human situation was there. Falco (here 22) was still grieving and was uncertain about his own future – he clung so much to Winther that he decided to join; partly due to curiosity and partly because he felt a lack of direction in his life. Indeed, the conflicts between siderians and humans were intense there, too, and the local siderians had started up a fighting group, inspired by the Fjordland Force in the North. Winther actively participated and after what Falco had experienced, he supported this as well. He socialized a bit with other guys (he got along well with Kieran’s dad Zarko and met a peculiar friend of Kieran, a guy named Raldimir who seemed interested in him. It didn’t take long before this crush got mutual and their intense love distracted them from serious activities around the human conflict. Falco and Raldimir grew such an intense relation that they did about everything together and were inseparable; they were truly soulmates. However, when Winther got caught by human researchers and was fitted with a GPS collar, he and his mate were brought back to the hard reality; the human threat was still close. The birth of her kids Kjeld and Khean and the visit of his parents and brother put their minds off the human problems for a while. However, years later, when Kieran’s mother Senka got killed by humans, they realized that their efforts to set up a similar resistance group didn’t work as they had hoped. With the increasing intensity of siderian-human conflicts so close, Falco, Raldimir, Winther and her family decided to travel back to their homelands in the North. Zarko also decided to join. 

Back to Fjordlands and rejoining the Force
When they came back, they learned that several siderians of the Fjordland Force had fallen in battle - one of them was Siri, Winther’s friend and Ekster’s sister. General Stian was also recovering from severe recent injuries and had cut down on Fjordland Force activities. Falco was happy to see his brother Torstein again and their relation was still as strong as ever. He also made friends with his funny-minded distant cousin Ruben, Goran & Rubi’s son (who was still a kid when Falco and Winther left). Falco and Raldimir both regularly joined as patrols during missions, which wasn’t without risk. Raldimir - who is the more impulsive and daring one of the two - got seriously injured during a mission. Falco refused to leave his side when healers were patching him up. Fortunately, he recovered and could add yet another scar to his already present set of scars. This accident made Falco more careful and he wanted to take some distance from the Force and focus on their relation. He also wanted to show Raldimir the Sætansen lands of his family. The ancient Sætansen Fortress was now occupied by Stian’s son Stállo, Goran’s son Helgar and Ravn’s daughter Sabyn; Falco and his mate established a territory nearby. Falco preferred to stay safely on their territory when there were no big missions in the Force, but Raldimir’s drive for adventure was more difficult to tame. As a compromise they went frequently to the nearby metacluster Mistfjord to socialize, and Raldimir sometimes joined Winther on patrols in the Force, which didn’t really reassure Falco much. 

An unexpected turn
When there were important missions in the Fjordland Force that required patrols, Falco and Raldimir still joined. It also gave them a good adventure opportunity and a chance to see Falco’s family who lived further North (a few weeks walking away). Humans were mostly driven away from the Northern Fjordlands but some tried to reclaim their settlements. General Stian had planned a scouting mission to one of the biggest fallen settlements in the North. Falco and Raldimir lined up as patrols again, after they had spent time with Falco’s family. This was supposed to be a rather small mission, and nobody had expected such a dramatic turn: General Stian got shot dead. After having established the Fjordland Force and having it led through so many dangerous missions for 40 years, nobody saw this coming. The shock spread through the organization and planned missions got cancelled. Several other members came to the front to show support and pay tribute to Stian in a last ritual

The new General
Stian’s daughter Ekster took over the position as General once she had recovered from her injuries. She had become fierce and hateful towards humans and increased the intensity of the missions to make sure that humans would never cause so much death and suffering on siderian lands ever again. Falco wasn’t so keen on Ekster’s risky strategy. Sadly, he couldn’t convince Raldimir to retreat to their own territory, so they still participated in most missions. It helped that both Falco’s parents and his brother still actively participated in everything the Force did and it strengthened the family bonds a lot. Especially the bond with his brother Torstein had grown strong since he was one of the very few persons with whom Falco shared his most personal spiritual experiences. Despite the soulmate relation with his mate Raldimir, he didn’t feel the same level of understanding for this side of him that he felt in his brother and mother. When Ekster went with a subdivision of the Force to the Balkan regions, to support the struggling fighting force there, Falco and Raldimir joined in again. That gave Raldimir the opportunity to finally visit his home territory and family again.

Farewell to his father
Not long after the return from this second expedition, Falco’s father Falkner fell ill and retreated himself from the Force. He didn’t show any signs of recovery, so Falco and Raldimir decided to stay with him and Yava (Falco’s mother) - so did Winther and Torstein. Falkner passed away a year after the first signs of sickness, which left the family in deep grief. It also made him realize just how close they were as a family and how much support they got from each other. Winther especially needed a lot of support. That motivated Falco to join missions more actively since both Winther, Torstein and Yava participated in most of the Force’s activities. 


The steep costs of neglecting safety
However, the Force wasn’t as safe under General Ekster as it was under Stian’s. She had cut down on (wide) patrols and wanted patrols to join at the frontlines. Both Falco, Winther and Torstein had addressed this safety problem with Ekster but she was still determined to invest more in the fighting groups instead. Winther, Falco and Raldimir did their best to safeguard the camp as one of the few patrols left. Siderians in the Force were at their most vulnerable when they were setting up a new camp. Both Falco and Raldimir were on camp patrolling duty when they received the sudden message that Falco’s brother Torstein had been shot with arrows just outside the main camp. Instead of investigating the area as he was asked to do, he abandoned his post and rushed to the main camp where he found his brother lying still in the grass with his mother hanging over him, holding his head. The shocked expression on his mother’s face told him enough. His gaze went to his motionless brother. The panic was frozen on his face, blood dripped from his mouth and two arrows stuck out of his chest.  Falco failed to process what happened and crashed down next to his mother tightly holding on to his brother’s lifeless body. When he calmed down a bit, he heard what happened: Torstein had led two cubs to the nearby pond to drink something when a human took him by surprise. He brought the cubs to safety but collapsed just before he reached the main camp.  Nobody heard a thing and the few remaining patrols couldn’t find the shooter. In the distance, he heard Winther raging (against Ekster), and then she joined him as his mother. General Ekster coldly approached Falco about his mistake to have abandoned his post and he absolutely lost it while his mother and Winther were still huddling Torstein’s body. He spat out all his anger and pain in her face and accused her for having neglected safety which led to the sudden death of his beloved brother. He turned his back on her and sworn to never ever do anything for her again. Falco was so devastated by the loss that he sought intense support from his mate, sister and mother. He stayed for a little while longer after the last tribute to Torstein but then left; he no longer wanted to participate in the Force anymore and retreated with Raldimir to his home territory. 

Getting his life back on track
Fortunately, Stian’s efforts to safeguard the inner Fjordlands had paid off and they could at least live relatively carefree on the Sætansen lands. It took him a long time to mourn and get his life back on track again. Depression was dangerously close and if it wasn’t for his supportive mate and the support from his cousins and their families, he could have fallen in a dark pit. Eventually, he did find some balance and joy in his life again and got the chance to explore his spirituality deeper, now that he lived so close to the Ancient Fortress with all the historical treasures. He also developed a close friendship with his cousin Sabyn, who was also deeply spiritual. When his mother Yava retreated herself from the Force due to old age, he stayed with her and Winther until she passed away. The loss of his wise mother felt as if his last source of elderly support dissolved. He realized just how much he still relied on her presence, despite his own age (91 by now). This loss gave the relation with his sister yet another positive boost.

Last contributions
After Yava’s passing, he and Raldimir tried to make the best out of their life. They were still inseparable and their love was intense as ever. When Falco heard from Winther that General Ekster had fallen in battle and that her son Crystellar had taken over the lead, Falco and Raldimir returned a few more times to the Force when they had missions nearby. General Crystellar was much milder and careful, which motivated Falco again to contribute to the cause that he still believed in: to safeguard the lands against human threats. However, as age crept up with him and Raldimir, they spend most time at home and kept loving and enjoying each other until the very end…

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*Metaclusters: are places where crystallized underground pathways come together and where large metaphysical crystals reach the surface. Siderians made use of them as energy sources to build their own communication and energy network around these crystal clusters. The population density around metaclusters is usually much higher than elsewhere and they have more facilities (places where they come together to teach each other, give medical care or trade)- although it’s often really small scaled compared to human settlements.

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