'Big X' or Alexandros's story
Story by Beefy the Bull on SoFurry
Intro to a Shadow-run character, I found the perfect musical accompaniment: ELFL - At the Crash Site (Spotify, youtube)
Alexandros Xavier Patrakos May 2025 By: BtB Details: This is a character background for a shadow-run campaign. Alexandros was born a troll to a low income human family living in a worn out single-wide trailer in the desert scrub land north of the Phoenix metro. His parents kept him, but almost immediately he was a burden to the family. Both due to social stigma and the expense of caring for such a big, growing, and hungry boy. At age 14 his parents 'suggested' he leave and go look for work, so he did, moving into the city proper to find his own way. Initially only hired for hard labor, moving freight in warehouses, and other heavy lifting. But Alexandros, often going by Xavier, was soon noticed as possible back-up muscle for a Trog dive bar when he was 16. His initial no-nonsense interpretation of rules lead to him getting more requests for work at bars and clubs, where he worked as a bouncer, bar back, or even bartender. Around this time he started to go by the street name 'Big X'. He found his first real sense of community at punk rock bars because they didn't care about his race, and despite being under 21 he was so big most assumed he was older. His now more flexible and realistic interpretation of rules let him get closer to people, and soon he started living a wild life of clubs, bars, parties, and fights. Alexandros felt at home with the punk crowd at his favorite bars, they accepted him more then most places ever did. He never tried to contact his family, but then again they never tried to contact him, so it was no loss as he saw it. They had moved on, but so did he. At 18 he fell in love with a young bisexual couple, A 21 year old human female named Roxie and a 21 year old Human male named Luka. Roxie was Punk through-and-through. Covered in Tattoos and piercings, she played guitar in a Metal/punk band, wore leather and combat boots, had a faux-hawk, partied hard and fought even harder. Her guttural growl in a microphone was so intense could start a bar-brawl. Then there was Luka. Luka was an effeminate party boy, he was big into clubs and drug fueled parties, and tagged everything that he could, nothing was spared his 'art'. Luka fancied himself an upcoming graffiti artist, just at his 'humble beginnings' before he made it big, he was a great artist who was just beginning to leaving his mark on the world. For a few months they were an inseparable group and quickly after that became an official polycule. They lived together at Roxies apartment, but spent most time at clubs, parties, and bars, and traveling around the city for Roxies band gigs, or getting Luka to a special place for his 'art'. Neither of the humans had a ride, so Alexandros provided, courtesy of his worn out old chopper. It was a perfect relation, all three added a complimenting part of the young crazy love. The two provided him with so much in life. Alexandros smashed faces in his first moshpit at one of Roxie's performances, and scaled his first 'halo-spot' to help Luka paint a middle finger outside their land lords apartment window. They loved recklessly, partied hard, and lived fast. There were no rules, nothing slowed them down! Alexandros fancied himself a skilled bike rider, and though his chopper was a worn out old ride that leaked oil and was hard to start, he was proud of it. When they rode together Luka was squished in front of Alexandros, and Roxie sat behind him. One night as they returned from a party, Alexandros revved hard and popped a wheelie while they were cruising down the dark street at 80kph, but he lost control. The bike toppled, and none were wearing helmets. Alexandros recovered quickly, though bruised and rashed, getting to his feet, he looked back and saw the bike twisted and strewn in parts across the empty street. Roxie and Luka were laying motionless on the hot pavement. Alexandros staggered over to Roxie who was closest, she wasn't breathing, her face and body bloodied. Alexandros picked her up but she was dead, her brown eyes open, but lifeless. Alexandros was devastated. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was a legend! She was supposed to be a literal rock star some day! A weak cough a bit further down the street drew Alexandros out of his shock, He picked up Roxie, Alexandros's body almost felt like it was impossibly weak in that moment, like he was hardly able to move, his will sapped. He struggled as he ran over to Luka, setting Roxie down gingerly, laying her down next to Luka. Luka was breathing, but his eyes were closed, the breath was slow and pained. Alexandros gripped Luka, lifting his head from the pavement, but he was limp, and only exhaled... Alexandros sat alone, kneeling in the glowing yellowish pool of the streetlight, and held Roxie and Luka close to him as he sobbed. Alexandros changed that night. After that he was colder and harsher. The smile that was always quick to show, wasn't. He did jobs he wouldn't have before. The dirty ones. The bad ones. He accepted his first pit fight of many. He knew the risks - He didn't care. He was haunted by his guilt, and he felt like he deserved to suffer it. He was tormented by the memories of that night, he always found himself standing on that lonely street, looking at the empty pavement. He wished he had died, not them. He wanted to undo the mistakes, to take it back. To some how make it not have happened, he wanted that so bad. One night while laying on the side walk there drinking after a hard job, he looked up into the glowing halo of the same streetlight, and it was like they were there, like angels looking down on him. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks, or he was loosing his mind, but he felt a spark he didn't for a long time, the tears flowed. The next week he hired a local graffiti artist to paint for him. He selected the perfect place, was a heaven-spot above the crash site, a red brick building on a high ledge three stories up, Alexandros provided a worn photo to the artist, and the artist painted the memorial for free, in the name of a fallen fellow graffiti artist. From a background of white clouds, in front of a large red bleeding heart, busts of Luka and Roxie both looked out over the city, smiling just like the night they had taken that photo. Both had a radiant golden aura glowing from behind them, and a light blue glowing infinity loop floating above their heads. Alexandros visited often, he kept the area around there clean, and lit candles of saints and incense regularly. It became known to locals that you didn't paint graffiti on that building or throw trash there if you liked your face to stay convex. When he couldn't handle a hard day, or he started to struggle with having feelings for someone, he always returned to the crash site. It was a habit to sit on the curb and drink to or with his departed friends, now looking out from above him. He was finally starting to be himself again, to feel a little bit like the person he was before that night under the streetlight. He finally stoped working the dirty jobs. The ones that made you feel like the bad guy. Instead he bounced at the punk and trog bars more, they were the kinda places Roxie liked to perform, and because Luka had liked taking them there, he picked up occasional work at the gay bar and rave music clubs, they had a vibe that just felt like Luka. Alexandros started having fun again, and started accepting invitations to parties again, and he started smiling his big dumb smile that Roxie and Luka had first fell in love with again. Slowly the crash became something he lived through and remembered, not a moment and experience he was trapped in.
Alexandros Xavier Patrakos May 2025 By: BtB Details: This is a character background for a shadow-run campaign. Alexandros was born a troll to a low income human family living in a worn out single-wide trailer in the desert scrub land north of the Phoenix metro. His parents kept him, but almost immediately he was a burden to the family. Both due to social stigma and the expense of caring for such a big, growing, and hungry boy. At age 14 his parents 'suggested' he leave and go look for work, so he did, moving into the city proper to find his own way. Initially only hired for hard labor, moving freight in warehouses, and other heavy lifting. But Alexandros, often going by Xavier, was soon noticed as possible back-up muscle for a Trog dive bar when he was 16. His initial no-nonsense interpretation of rules lead to him getting more requests for work at bars and clubs, where he worked as a bouncer, bar back, or even bartender. Around this time he started to go by the street name 'Big X'. He found his first real sense of community at punk rock bars because they didn't care about his race, and despite being under 21 he was so big most assumed he was older. His now more flexible and realistic interpretation of rules let him get closer to people, and soon he started living a wild life of clubs, bars, parties, and fights. Alexandros felt at home with the punk crowd at his favorite bars, they accepted him more then most places ever did. He never tried to contact his family, but then again they never tried to contact him, so it was no loss as he saw it. They had moved on, but so did he. At 18 he fell in love with a young bisexual couple, A 21 year old human female named Roxie and a 21 year old Human male named Luka. Roxie was Punk through-and-through. Covered in Tattoos and piercings, she played guitar in a Metal/punk band, wore leather and combat boots, had a faux-hawk, partied hard and fought even harder. Her guttural growl in a microphone was so intense could start a bar-brawl. Then there was Luka. Luka was an effeminate party boy, he was big into clubs and drug fueled parties, and tagged everything that he could, nothing was spared his 'art'. Luka fancied himself an upcoming graffiti artist, just at his 'humble beginnings' before he made it big, he was a great artist who was just beginning to leaving his mark on the world. For a few months they were an inseparable group and quickly after that became an official polycule. They lived together at Roxies apartment, but spent most time at clubs, parties, and bars, and traveling around the city for Roxies band gigs, or getting Luka to a special place for his 'art'. Neither of the humans had a ride, so Alexandros provided, courtesy of his worn out old chopper. It was a perfect relation, all three added a complimenting part of the young crazy love. The two provided him with so much in life. Alexandros smashed faces in his first moshpit at one of Roxie's performances, and scaled his first 'halo-spot' to help Luka paint a middle finger outside their land lords apartment window. They loved recklessly, partied hard, and lived fast. There were no rules, nothing slowed them down! Alexandros fancied himself a skilled bike rider, and though his chopper was a worn out old ride that leaked oil and was hard to start, he was proud of it. When they rode together Luka was squished in front of Alexandros, and Roxie sat behind him. One night as they returned from a party, Alexandros revved hard and popped a wheelie while they were cruising down the dark street at 80kph, but he lost control. The bike toppled, and none were wearing helmets. Alexandros recovered quickly, though bruised and rashed, getting to his feet, he looked back and saw the bike twisted and strewn in parts across the empty street. Roxie and Luka were laying motionless on the hot pavement. Alexandros staggered over to Roxie who was closest, she wasn't breathing, her face and body bloodied. Alexandros picked her up but she was dead, her brown eyes open, but lifeless. Alexandros was devastated. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was a legend! She was supposed to be a literal rock star some day! A weak cough a bit further down the street drew Alexandros out of his shock, He picked up Roxie, Alexandros's body almost felt like it was impossibly weak in that moment, like he was hardly able to move, his will sapped. He struggled as he ran over to Luka, setting Roxie down gingerly, laying her down next to Luka. Luka was breathing, but his eyes were closed, the breath was slow and pained. Alexandros gripped Luka, lifting his head from the pavement, but he was limp, and only exhaled... Alexandros sat alone, kneeling in the glowing yellowish pool of the streetlight, and held Roxie and Luka close to him as he sobbed. Alexandros changed that night. After that he was colder and harsher. The smile that was always quick to show, wasn't. He did jobs he wouldn't have before. The dirty ones. The bad ones. He accepted his first pit fight of many. He knew the risks - He didn't care. He was haunted by his guilt, and he felt like he deserved to suffer it. He was tormented by the memories of that night, he always found himself standing on that lonely street, looking at the empty pavement. He wished he had died, not them. He wanted to undo the mistakes, to take it back. To some how make it not have happened, he wanted that so bad. One night while laying on the side walk there drinking after a hard job, he looked up into the glowing halo of the same streetlight, and it was like they were there, like angels looking down on him. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks, or he was loosing his mind, but he felt a spark he didn't for a long time, the tears flowed. The next week he hired a local graffiti artist to paint for him. He selected the perfect place, was a heaven-spot above the crash site, a red brick building on a high ledge three stories up, Alexandros provided a worn photo to the artist, and the artist painted the memorial for free, in the name of a fallen fellow graffiti artist. From a background of white clouds, in front of a large red bleeding heart, busts of Luka and Roxie both looked out over the city, smiling just like the night they had taken that photo. Both had a radiant golden aura glowing from behind them, and a light blue glowing infinity loop floating above their heads. Alexandros visited often, he kept the area around there clean, and lit candles of saints and incense regularly. It became known to locals that you didn't paint graffiti on that building or throw trash there if you liked your face to stay convex. When he couldn't handle a hard day, or he started to struggle with having feelings for someone, he always returned to the crash site. It was a habit to sit on the curb and drink to or with his departed friends, now looking out from above him. He was finally starting to be himself again, to feel a little bit like the person he was before that night under the streetlight. He finally stoped working the dirty jobs. The ones that made you feel like the bad guy. Instead he bounced at the punk and trog bars more, they were the kinda places Roxie liked to perform, and because Luka had liked taking them there, he picked up occasional work at the gay bar and rave music clubs, they had a vibe that just felt like Luka. Alexandros started having fun again, and started accepting invitations to parties again, and he started smiling his big dumb smile that Roxie and Luka had first fell in love with again. Slowly the crash became something he lived through and remembered, not a moment and experience he was trapped in.