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characters:river-hsu [07/28/2026] – [Personality] vespertinecharacters:river-hsu [08/01/2026] (current) – [Appearance] vespertine
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   * Dark brown eyes; expressive and often give away his feelings   * Dark brown eyes; expressive and often give away his feelings
   * Casual dresser, usually in jeans, lots of t-shirts, sweaters, and sweatshirts   * Casual dresser, usually in jeans, lots of t-shirts, sweaters, and sweatshirts
 +  * Always wearing a pendant made of white-green jade, carved with an image of the vermillion bird, tied around his neck with a red string. Usually tucked under his shirt, it's a protective charm that repels fire
   * His Zodiac mark is light brown, about 2 inches in size, and located across his ribs on the left side of his body. When in proximity to another Zodiac it feels like it is pulsing   * His Zodiac mark is light brown, about 2 inches in size, and located across his ribs on the left side of his body. When in proximity to another Zodiac it feels like it is pulsing
  
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   * Abducted from his birth family by Jared Lavigne as an infant   * Abducted from his birth family by Jared Lavigne as an infant
-  * Magically abducted from the Lavignes a second time as part of the Zodiac summoning around two years of age, but was retrieved fairly quickly; grew up with the narrative that he was heroically rescued from (incompetent) villains+  * Magically abducted from the Lavignes a second time as part of the Zodiac summoning around three years of age, but was retrieved fairly quickly; grew up with the narrative that he was heroically rescued from (incompetent) villains
   * Other than the (second) kidnapping, his childhood was as unremarkable as it could be in the Lavigne family until the sudden of disappearance of his older brother, Lycus (now Lorne Key), when he was ten   * Other than the (second) kidnapping, his childhood was as unremarkable as it could be in the Lavigne family until the sudden of disappearance of his older brother, Lycus (now Lorne Key), when he was ten
   * Everything was a little off-kilter after that, a huge shift in his childish worldview, and he became convinced that it was his responsibility to try to keep the family together, at least until Lycus came back   * Everything was a little off-kilter after that, a huge shift in his childish worldview, and he became convinced that it was his responsibility to try to keep the family together, at least until Lycus came back
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   * River never spoke to him willingly again   * River never spoke to him willingly again
   * He tried to keep up appearances for Revi, but he was adrift, no one to talk to about the crater of his life as he knew it; Leah was away in Taiwan and Ruby never picked up the phone for more than a minute or two if at all and he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to tell her anyway   * He tried to keep up appearances for Revi, but he was adrift, no one to talk to about the crater of his life as he knew it; Leah was away in Taiwan and Ruby never picked up the phone for more than a minute or two if at all and he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to tell her anyway
-  *  +  * In the midst of standardized testing and college applications, a way forward slowly coalesced; in college he would no longer be a Lavigne; he would be a Hsu 
 +  * It was imperfect, he couldn't hold his mother entirely blameless, but at least she'd helped him. At least she told him the truth when she asked. At least he would no longer carry the name of the man who had ripped him away from the life he could have — should have —  had 
 +  * Always a good student, he went to school in NYC, where he had cousin to spend time with. He dithered around a bit before settling into geoscience, a discipline that came to him naturally, magically, and let him settle his mind as he came to terms of what his life would be like now 
 +  * There he met his long-lost cousin, Aren Lavigne, also a Zodiac, which gave River, now going by his Chinese name Jianhong, a new avenue for his need for pack ties — a new family, not to replace the one that had been shattered, but perhaps to supplement it 
 +  * Moved to Boulder, CO for his MSc, which he mostly pursued for the job opportunities it opened up to him; there he had the time and space to really settle himself into his new reality, without the complication of family proximity 
 +  * Still went home for school breaks and holidays, but mainly for Revi 
 +  * Sometime during this period, Leah fell out of contact with her children 
 +  * Worked as an entry level field geologist throughout his masters and stuck with it afterward, until Revi told him she was in Avior, with not only Ruby but Lorne, formerly Lycus. Since cousins Aren and Remy were also there, and there were geoscience positions open at the Observatory, there was no reason for him not to pack up and join them
 ===== Relationships ===== ===== Relationships =====
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