MILO
(MEE-Low; chef @ The Burrow. dead. Kinda.)
Milo stands at 5 fulms even, (4'9" without the heels.) But for all that he is little, everything about him radiates uneasy potency. There is something horrible just beneath the surface of the soft-spoken man—like cornered prey, intent on pretending to be a predator.He feels like a threat.
Quick Facts
AGE: Early 30sLANGUAGE: Fluent in Corvosi, Garlean, and sign language (Ilsabardian/Corvosi/Common/Mercantile). Passable with Eorzean/common. Speaks with a heavy Corvosi accent (think Russian.)PRONOUNS: He/him/hisSEXUALITY: BisexualBACKGROUND: All you know is that he’s a chef for a ship. He says it’s a merchant vessel. But he always dodges giving the name, or any details.PERSONALITY
- Introverted
- Blunt
- Critical
- Thoughtful
- Skittish
- Soft-spoken
- Wry
- Trusting
- ViolentNeat Tricks
- Kitchen knife tricks
- Can whistle anything
- Whenever he "dies" he simply wakes back up when his body has stitched back together, leaving him in a constant existential crisis over whether or not he's even alive to begin with, or what he even is.
- Great with origami
In Depth
Recent History
- Milo came shore occasionally to help with the Dragonsong War efforts, to put a little extra gil in his pocket.- He got back together with his ex-boyfriend, Lysander, who was living in Ishgard and also heavily involved in war efforts.- And then, he died.- Things started to get really, really weird.- He met and started dating an additional boyfriend, Stix.- Milo never left the Kraken's Arms crew entirely for the Dragonsong War, so he kept up the habit of shipping out during busy mercantile seasons, and living off the profits of that during off seasons when he could stay on land with his boyfriends.- However, he also spent a lot of off time helping the Doman Resistance (the urge to do so borne from a deep well of guilt about Corvos). During his efforts, he died a lot more. Sometimes horrifically.- He's (foolishly) decided not to tell either boyfriend about these deaths, nor how intense his involvement with the Doman Resistance was.- He's been trying to figure out what the hell he is (his current theory: a ghost) and took a job at The Morgue with the promise from Veladrys and Koh'a that they would assist him in his efforts to figure out what he is.- He spent so long in Corvos refusing to help anyone, so he swore an oath to henceforth help everyone. No one goes hungry. No one.- Recently, that has included some more monstrous types that require, ah, people in their diets.- Thankfully he works at a literal morgue.- He recently got engaged to Lysander!- He shares a kitchen with his boyfriend, mate, and Sous Chef, Xau'to Dakwhil. He often refers to Xau'to as "Xaushka."
Pre-ARR Backstory
You can find the full written out version here.
This was written for WoL Milo, but RP Milo deviates from WoL Milo at the start of ARR; so the background is largely the same. As for recognition of major NPC characters involved in his backstory, I tend to simply ignore that aspect for RP. All that's really important is how he came to be (Crystal Tower clone), and when he came to be (Eighth Calamity future). This is mostly important as it informs his confidence in his memories (low).The cliffnotes are as follows:- When the Crystal Tower booted up again in the future, it didn't have Doga an Unei DNA anymore to spit out clones of them. So it went with the next closest royal Allagan for DNA data--a certain sleeping miqo'te--and spat out a clone miqitten upon launch. That miqitten was Milo.- Unable to ensure his safety in the hellscape of Eorzea post Eighth Calamity (and realizing that the timeline had to be tampered with to prevent it from occurring to begin with), Milo was sent back in time as a kid, to bear the message to the Warrior of Light.- Weirdly enough, no one in their right mind would believe a six year old when he insisted he was from the future. He's long since started to doubt his memory as well.- He was zapped back in time to Corvos, where he was adopted by Mihmi Jaab, the head chef at a local restaurant (The Eft's Tail). He adored her, and followed her everywhere to learn everything she could teach him.
- When he was 15, Mihmi was 'disappeared' by the Garleans who were in the process of invading Corvos.- He took refuge in The Eft's Tail so that he wasn't similarly 'disappeared.'- He hid, without leaving that building, and only having the restaurant staff to talk to, for about 6 years. At 21, he finally started to go out onto the restaurant floor to talk to patrons as the establishment's Sous Chef. This lasted for a while, and it made him happy.- He ignored the increasingly grim odds of the Corvosi resistance and refused to "get involved" because it might jeopardize his happiness. He staunchly insisted that if he kept his head down and played by the Garlean's rules, it'd all be fine. He would just wait for it all to blow over.- (It was not fine; it did not blow over. He watched every single one of his friends and loved ones slowly get picked off.)- The Head Chef that took over for Mihmi was like a very distant father figure to Milo. Watching him get murdered by Garlean soldiers in his own restaurant snapped something inside of Milo. It was the last straw. He killed the man that killed the chef, and immediately ran for his life.- He was taken in by Limsan pirates (Kraken's Arms crew with Carvallain), and stayed aboard as their chef for about 7-8 years, leading up to ARR.
Personality
Introverted: he’s unlikely to be the driving force of a conversation with a stranger, you’ll have his full attention.Blunt: Spending time away from shore with a bunch of pirates sailors wears on one’s manners. Milo’s weren’t great to begin with. He’s very likely to point out any elephants in the room, or ask bluntly about something that unnerves him.Critical: Whatever it is that’s going on, odds are good Milo’s got an opinion on it. It’s probably negative. He will endlessly grouse under his breath if it’s allowed to go unchecked.Thoughtful: He remembers what people tell him. Tucks it away like it might be necessary for survival. (Or, rarely, friendship.)Skittish: Unexpected touch, loud noises, carefully placed cucumbers; all of this will send Milo skyrocketing into the stratosphere, and probably reaching for his weapon.Soft-spoken: He’s not confident in his common/Eorzean, and it shows in how he speaks it. Quiet, a little mumbled, like he’s hoping that the combo of mumbling + strong Corvosi Miqo’te accent will obscure the errors he makes.Wry: Contrary to all evidence, he does have a sense of humor! It’s more that he’s his own target audience. He doesn’t feel particularly inclined to let people in on his jokes.Trusting: Despite all his skittishness and paranoia, Milo’s instinct is almost always trusting. (The less kind might call him gullible. The outright rude would call him dense. They’re both right.)Violent: Give him a reason to draw his weapon (or just use his claws and fangs), and he’ll let you know what regret feels like. He loves to spar, or just random tussles. Be forewarned: he genuinely does not know how to play nice.
Hooks
The aetherically sensitive will notice his aether feels... off. Wrong, somehow. And very, very faint.The extremely aetherically sensitive + those with any kind of attunement to soul matter will recognize exactly how his aether behaves: it’s the equivalent of an aetheric death rattle. By all rights, he should be dead. But he seems whole and hale. What is he?He habitually uses sign language as he speaks. Its regional differences mark it as Ilsabardian/Corvosi, but there's also strong influence from mercantile trade sign language.He has a heavy Corvosi accent (some bizarre mix of Russian and Spanish), and will be extremely relieved + vastly more chatty if you can communicate with him in his native tongue (or through sign language.) Although, he will be less relieved if you come from Corvos. If you do, he hopes very much that you don't remember him.He's a chef by trade. He can and will talk your ear off about food, making food, and the vast intense opinions he has about food.He's always, and I mean always, down to fight. Brutally. A solid way to introduce yourself is to just get in his face and shove him.He has a truly impressive resting-bitch-face. He permanently looks like he's ready to murder. That he often is ready to commit murder is actually just coincidence.If you have to eat people to survive have unique dietary requirements, you've likely heard whispers that Chef Milo at The Burrow can keep you fed. No matter what it is you eat.
Rules/OOC
1. IC is not OOC; I am not Milo! I'm actually pretty friendly, I think. He's a prickly weirdo but please do not mistake that for me not being interested in your character or in RPing with you! I'm pretty much ALWAYS down to plot and scheme up scenarios, etc.2. I'm open to all forms of RP, all ratings, etc.! However, my favorites for Milo by far are horror, comedy, plot/narrative heavy, character exploration, and romance as a form of character exploration. I'm not into ERP for the sake of ERP. Don't make me play "whose limb is that anyways" when there isn't even plot/character development happening.Shipping note: Milo is not open for new relationships at this time.3. Walk-up /say or /tell are both fine and encouraged! Please note that I'm super dyslexic. I have a bunch of plug-ins running that will ping me and highlight messages if Milo's name is mentioned (or 'blue miqo'te'), and lots of other tools to help me parse active venues. However, those aren't foolproof! If I ignored you, I absolutely did not mean to and I'm sorry!! Send me a /tell to make sure I see whatever the message is! Especially in crowded venues, I will love you forever if you use /tell or make sure to hit one of the pings every time you post.4. In-game or Discord interactions are both fine! My Discord is #vasshoth6836 ! Please let me know what your in-game name is tho, otherwise I will have no idea what's going on.5. I'm a strong believer in asynchronous communication. No messages or posts need to be replied to instantly, ever. That's the magical thing about online communication! We can start and stop as we please, and the record is right there to reference! Please respect that this goes for me, too!6. Please be over 21 for any RP interactions!
WARNING!
Ahead lies spoilers for ShB and EW lore! It also deals heavily in death, and describes the gorey details of what exactly Milo is. It ain't pretty.Are you sure you want to proceed?
BLASPHEMY
He's 100% dynamis. No Aether. No Body.
"But wait, how does that work?"
When he died the first time, he was already in possession of an absurd amount of dynamis; so when his aether faded and his body died, his consciousness within his dynamis simply took over and filled in the gaps.He quite literally exists under the premise "I think, therefore I am."His body works the way he thinks and feels it should because of how dynamis reacts to the expectations and reactions of a conscious observer. However, he's not the only conscious observer around. The more people observing him at any given point in time, the more likely it is that his essence is being pulled in a hundred different directions as it struggles to pick a singular manifestation. He refers to that as flickering.This also occurs under extreme emotional duress; where he's doubting himself, or struggling to recognize his own existence with much depth beyond 'in danger' or 'run!'It's impossible to fully conceive of and experience death while still a living consciousness, and so, he can't really die. He heals up at an absurdly quick rate and is left with only the extremely permanent memory of dying.IMPORTANT: Milo recently learned the basics of what he is. His physical form is less stable than ever.