Before the Fall

A series of images, moments, and stories that revolve around Elliot's life before the start of "Falling Stars". In the days before discovering she was the Crown Bearer and destined to bring in a new age of peace, Elliot was just an ordinary teenager who hung out with her friends, put off doing homework until the last minute, and occasionally got embarrassed by her goofy dads. It was an average life, the kind any normal person her age would discribe as "boring" or "uneventful" but damn does she regret taking it for granted.

Friends

A few of Elliot's Brightwich friends from before her abduction. Brightwich may be a Star Gazer city but that doesn't mean members of the other two races haven't made a place for themselves here as well, it's just...more of a challenge for them.

There are a few friends here who are missing but they'll be uploaded soon.

Faru is one of the few Voyager youths in Brightwich. Unusually sporty and physically active for a Voyager. The school and their classmates refer to them as “female” due to them possessing feminine tastes and interests, although Faru would much rather live outside the gender binary like the rest of their people. Despite having to identify as female, Faru is unable to join any of the girls’ sports teams at school. Or the boys’ teams. They can't even use the same bathrooms or locker rooms as the rest of their peers. Faru and Elliot often put their heads together to try and fight the system due to the two of them facing similar issues from the community. If there's news of a small protest happening on school grounds or a plea to sign a petition, you better believe they're behind it.

Jhonen is an Ursa aligned boy resembling a brown bear. Has a sweet tooth that can only be satiated by his mother's famous sweet rolls and gets lethargic during the cold months much like other Ursine aligned people. He's a bit of a slacker but he has a good heart. Jhonen spends most of his time skateboarding, filming his stunt attempts, building questionable ramps to launch himself off of, and getting himself hurt trying to nail tricks. Elliot’s best friend; the two met each other in grade school when they were small, blubbering, children and have been inseparable ever since. Even his mom loves her. Trouble follows them whenever they hit the town but luckily it's never enough to land either them in the back of a squad car. She often likes to spend the night at his place to get a break from the chaos back home.

Kelso is an Equuleus aligned teen resembling a painted horse (although with how I drew him he kinda looks more like a bull terrier than a horse). A quiet kid who likes to keep to himself and listen to his music. His father was a famous track and field star who is trying so hard to push his son into becoming an athlete, but poor Kelso just doesn't have the drive or the interest. He'd much rather find a nice spot to sit down and indulge in his hobbies. Chip-tune is his favorite genre at the moment and he would love to get his hooves on some equipment to make his own music. Elliot and Jhonen find themselves sticking up for Kelso a lot, who tends to be an easy target for bullying in a high school filled with pompous Star Gazers.

Elliot and Hobbies (Rant)

You know, it recently occurred to me that I never really gave Elliot any hobbies when I first made her. At all. Taking a quick lil skim through my messy teen ramblings made that pretty obvious. And I think the reason for that is because when I was 12 and Elliot was still a really bad self-insert I just assumed that I didn't need to specify what her hobbies were, because she's literally me and EVERYONE knows what my hobbies are so I don't have to talk about them/explain what they are (you know...ignoring all the people who would have read this and not know a damn thing about me) or give readers any kind of insight on who this character is and why we should find her interesting/you should find her relatable and want to see her succeed. So we're fixing that.

Back before she was abducted and learned she was destined to save the world, Elliot was just your somewhat average teen who liked to play video games with her friends, slap on a sick pair of roller skates, and hit the town with her camcorder.

She'd record just about anything; walks to and from school, short films starring her friends, skate tricks and music videos and basketball shots- she had a knack for it. So much so that she was encouraged to join the school's Broadcasting Club. It wasn't just a simple video log, sometimes it was filled with so much creativity or far more effort than what was usually put into something so small; experiemental angles, practical effects, poignant themes and monolouges that served as a window to her mind. It was impressive when it wasn't something her concerned dads would spend hours questioning the line between "fun hobby" and "a cry for help". It's hard for Elliot to explain why she likes to film the world around her, it's just a simple joy that she can do just about anything with and easily share with her loved ones or get them involved. Jhonen and Pepper certainly won't say no to having their stunts filmed, or having her join them at the skate park in general on her skates. And hey- maybe if she can catch Faru making a killer three-point throw they can convince the school to let the Voyager youth join the basketball team. It's a big if but it's worth trying.

Her fathers also insisted on enrolling Elliot in some kind of self-defense course. Beast folk are naturally strong and adept fighters, the Star Gazers...not so much. And with Elliot being a young girl who could easily be overpowered by anyone for any reason, it was only normal for them to try and get their daughter on some even ground. They chose Jiu-Jitsu; a martial art that focuses on grappling and ground fighting. With most fights ending up as a mess of limbs and bodies pinned to the ground, Micha and Cooper felt it was important to have the skills to get out of those situations. She's still learning (if you couldn't tell by her belt color), Elliot is nowhere close to being an expert or some kind of a martial art god but she knows how to put people in submission holds now and threaten to dislocate a limb.

Note: I don't know if the string of skate tricks I had Jhonen say is possible to do. I don't skate IRL. I don't know what I'm talking about so let’s just assume that he doesn't either and is just saying things to look cool for the camera.

Mother Bear

Meet Jhonen's mom, Nettle "Nettie" Linnaeus. She's a super mom, a talented baker, can talk a mile a minute, and has a lot of love to give to friends and strangers alike. It usually all goes to her son- who is spoiled with baked goods and bear hugs- but also has plenty of sweets saved up for his very best friend, Elliot. Nettie has watched the Star Gazer grow up beside her son for almost 10 years now and adores the girl enough to see her as one of own. Heck, if you were to ask her, Nettie would proudly say that Elliot is a part of her little family.

She's the closest thing Elliot has to a mother figure. Whenever she feels too embarrassed to talk to her fathers about anything, she knows that Nettie is just down the road and is always willing to offer a shoulder to cry on and some sage advice. Her words and affection can be a little overbearing at times (Micha and Cooper have begrudgingly put up with her saccharine nonsense for too many years), but she means well in the end. Even if it feels like she just sorta kidnaps Elliot out of the blue with the excuse of spending more quality girl time with her.

*Nettie's insistence of making sure Elliot is properly fed comes from her own experience as the only girl and youngest child in a house full of older brothers. She knows how it can get sometimes when it comes to fighting for a place at the table and eating your fill, especially in a large family. And while Elliot doesn't have that issue, it doesn't stop Nettie from giving the Pembrokes a stern reminder on what could happen if she finds out that girl hasn't been eating.

A Week Later (WIP)

A scene showing what happens to Elliot after her suicide attempt.

After being discharged from the hospital, Elliot is a mess. Everything she tried to take to her grave that night was out in the open now; the stress that she couldn't handle, this weird sense of doom that weighed down on her mind, her fears of being abandoned for becoming so imperfect and weak and living with the fact that she could easily grow up to be just as bad as them one day- the very Star Gazers she loathed...the Star Gazer she was born as.

She was fully expecting her family to disown her and her friends to pretend she never existed, but when they didn't...she honestly wasn't sure how to feel about it. She broke the illusion and showed everyone what she really was, surely they all hated her as much as she hated herself. Her first few days back home were spent in her room, away from the world, with only a few moments of contact from her family who did everything they could to help her feel at home and loved and relaxed. Worried about their daughter wasting away and putting herself in another situation that could land her in a hospital (this time caused by her refusal to eat), the Pembroke's send her off on a little errand; go down the street and deliver something to Jhonen's mom- with the hopes that either a bit of fresh air or some time with the Ursa mother could help lift her spirits.

And, thankfully, it does.

It takes a heart-to-heart conversation and an emotional break down for it to happen, but it's a start.

It eventually leads to all of her friends ending up in Jhonen's backyard, gathering in a Beast styled cuddle pile in the grass, and spending the rest of the afternoon doing what they always do; hanging out and enjoying each other's company. It ends up becoming one of the nicest days she's had in quite a while. Elliot's fears don't go away completely that day, they linger for a while longer and still cause her to doubt her loved ones. It's a long road to recovery but this outing did exactly what her dads and Jhonen's mom hoped it would do; show the young Star Gazer she has people in her life who aren't going anywhere. No matter what.

And they have all the time in the world to prove it.

(a work in progress, obviously. There's some characters and limbs missing, the anatomy is off, and everyone is just chill'n in a void. But it will get finished eventually.)

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