Hi folks, it's been a while since I posted my last journal, and I've gotten a lot of commissions and done a lot of writing about orcs since then. In fact, Brex is no longer a singular character inhabiting a simple world. He's now got friends, enemies, (ex-)boyfriends, creatures and otherworldly powers to deal with! I've actually got quite the story going for him, much more than I originally intended. But a lot of these things have been inspired by commissions, so it's a feedback loop of cool orc stuff.

Anyway, I figured I would make a quick sort of reference post to explain the names Aros and Brex and how they work now, as well as providing some updated character info for the characters I have: The orc, the orc-demon, and the lion.

What do I call the orc, the magical one with the cute face and the rings?

Brex.

He's always been Brex, and that's never really been in question. The thing that seemed a little tenuous is whether he's my "orcsona" (brutally adapted from "fursona"), or my Original Character (OC). The answer is both, but leaning more toward OC. Since I like to write about him and imagine stories for him, it's hard for me to point at him and say "this represents me." I identify with a lot of his problems, but that's by design. Here are a few things about Brex that you may or may not know:

• Brex grew up mostly isolated from the rest of his world, in a small orc clan, where his grandfather was chief.
• For reasons he currently chooses not to share, he left the clan, but still considers some members his dear friends.
• Brex is a sorcerer, not a wizard.
• In Brex's world, the resource for sorcery is woven into muscle fibers of intelligent beings. He doesn't realize it, but he's predisposed to being talented at magic because orcs have more muscle mass than other races.
• Brex considers illusions and mental magic his specialty, but knows a lot of basic spells like binding, cutting, sanitizing, and so on.
• Brex uses rings and other jewelry to cast spells, but this is common to all sorcerers.
• Brex has been seen in the company of a feral lion, which he's been known to talk to, as if it could speak back to him. He doesn't know that these people were watching when it happened. Some have called him mentally unstable because of this.
• Brex is codependent, and will spend much of his personal story struggling with this and coming to terms with it.

(I might come back and update this list later, if people are interested in more Brex facts. Feel free to comment if you have any questions.)

What do I call the demon, the one with all the chest hair and in all the *cough* art?

Aros

Formerly known as simply "Demon Brex", it seemed a little unfair to both Demons and Brex, since this guy is really neither.

Aros is actually not a demon in the traditional, abrahamic sense that most people are used to. He's closer to a fantasy world demon, but even those are usually too mired in the "powers of darkness, ultimate evil blah blah blah" to really reflect what he is.

Aros is an asmosyne. If you already know what that is, congratulations! You happened to be reading a link on my twitter feed (that I have actually since lost) explaining how they work. For everybody else, I'll put a quick summary here:

• Asmosynes are immortal beings, with unknown origins and no physical form. They spend the majority of their lives bound to a mortal, usually intelligent, host. Whenever a host dies, the asmosyne is released from the host's soul and must find a new host, or it will dissipate and be erased from existence.

• Whenever an asmosyne bonds with a host's soul, a new personality is created. If the host is willing, it can use the additional power from the asmosyne and form one, new personality. If the host is unwilling, or does not wish to integrate with the asmosyne, two separate personalities can form. Sometimes, the integration can go poorly and hosts can develop dysfunctions or disorders by refusing to acknowledge the asmosyne.

• Asmosynes are motivated by self-interest, and strive to keep their host alive. Since a unique personality is created with each host, that personality will do everything in its power to survive by ensuring nothing terrible befalls their host. The process of integration is also a slow one, and with exceptions, they keep a certain fondness for their hosts.

• Asmosynes often physically transform their hosts, subconsciously informed by how their hosts view ambition and self-interest. Most people associate self-interest with power and power with corruption. It should be no surprise that many hosts of asmosynes often find themselves with horns, spikes, or fangs, since creatures and monsters end up as villains with no thought for a greater good. But if a host is culturally inspired to associate ambition with a lion, that host may find they have leonine ears or a mane. Some are even very subtle, if a host admires a specific person for their self-interest, then the host may find their body structure and build mimicking that person.

At some point in his life, Brex was in the right/wrong place in the right/wrong time, and ended up being near someone who was a host to an asmosyne when they died, and now he's a host. Through this moment, Aros was born.

Aros serves as a foil to Brex, trying to help him achieve what Brex fears to attempt, whether by societal pressure, mild anxiety or just his own paranoia over safety. Aros is also far more sexual and flirtatious than Brex is, because Brex grew up in a place where he didn't feel comfortable being sexual, and ended up very shy and reserved about it. But Brex wants to be more sexual, which in turn feeds Aros' actions. Aros doesn't really have a name, and honestly considers himself as much "Brex" as regular Brex does, but for our purposes, we need a label for him. And that's gonna be Aros.

Wait hold on, wasn't your lion guy a while back called Aros?

Yes. And he still is Aros.

While I don't usually use that character very much, I did bother to reboot his origins and motivation in the last year, as well as get a piece of art. So I wouldn't call him abandoned.

As for in-character reasons why he's called Aros? Well, have a look at his character history and description here if you want to look for a connection.

Name: Aros Orean
Gender: Male
Orientation: Bisexual, Male Preference
Occupation: Chief Technical Officer, SublimiTech
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 250 lbs
Body Fat: 10%
Build: Muscular
Eye Color: Blue
Hair/Fur Color (Primary): Golden Brown
Hair/Fur Color (Secondary): Maroon

Relationship Status: Single, not looking
Social Activity: Infrequent
Work/Life Balance: Poor, favors Work
Average Hours of Sleep Per Night: 7
Eyesight: 20/20
Technophilia: Frequent
Credit Score: Stellar
Mortgage: Paid in Full
Average Connections on Social Network: 32
Education: Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Software, Associate’s Degree in Management and Business
Income: {REDACTED}

There’s little recorded information on Aros Orean before he began working at SublimiTech. Even though he has three degrees of varying prestige, calls to the universities in question will result in a confirmation of attendance and transcripts, but no individuals who remember the lion distinctly.

Requests for information from SublimiTech are equally vague. He joined the company a few years after earning his Bachelor’s. He studied for his Associate’s, and then his Master’s while ascending the career ladder. In just about four or five years, he managed to become the company’s youngest-ever Chief Technical Officer, usually due to his utter devotion to his work. Even the lion’s side projects affected the company’s prototypes, and he commands a certain respect even among the most senior employees.

Nowadays, the lion spends most of his time searching nearby businesses and social areas for potential employees, in his own casual sort of recruiting. He comes to the office less frequently, but still often enough to give feedback on SublimiTech’s new and improved devices. It’s all for the sake of user interface, according to the company. But a few civilians have dissenting opinions, claiming that the company is anything but ethical.

That doesn’t matter much to the lion, though. He just enjoys getting to know some people, learning about their strengths and weaknesses, and getting them on the right “team” at SublimiTech.

I don't intend to write anything more about Aros (the lion) other than the occasional roleplay with a friend. I'm not saying that he and Aros (the asmosyne) are the same character. But I'm not not saying that either.

Clearly, as you can see in the description above, Aros the lion is in an entirely different world than Brex's. And it's not proven that those worlds are even connected. Nobody has ever recorded what happens when an asomosyne finds a host who is talented with telepathy and mental magic, with no data to prove or disprove that this might encourage that asmosyne and its host to develop magic that will effectively disguise them among any population, even anthropomorphic felines and canines. There are zero records of asomosynes being able to find tears or portals in space and time that may connect worlds. And that's all I have to say on that matter.

Though you must admit that Aros the lion certainly seems ambitious.

Okay fine, we've covered everything I guess. But what do we call you, the guy behind all the icons and art?

Aros. It's my screen name/furry name. Plus, I feel more comfortable identifying with the asmosyne because I'm achieving a lot of my goals recently and really pushing forward to self-actualization. I also enjoy helping people succeed at what they want to do, and in many ways, that's the major positive of an asmosyne. Plus, this way my badges at conventions are still consistent.

Besides, Aros has always been my name in the fandom and I'm too lazy to change it.

I wasn't actually reading any of this, break it down for me.

Hi, you can call me Aros.

This is a picture of Brex. This is a picture of Aros.

Brex. Aros.

Brex. Aros.

There is also a lion who is named Aros. We cannot confirm nor deny whether this is the same character as the Aros mentioned above.

Have a nice day~