Character

Brie grew up in Portland, Oregon to a tired middle-class Asian-American family without any significant traumatic events, parental death or neglect. Their coming-out as nonbinary was met with support and respect for their identity, and their precocious decision to pursue writing as a career was met with cautious approval. On the whole, Brie has led an unremarkable childhood and youth, more privileged than most.

Actually, one discrepancy. Let us backtrack.

There is still something to be said about Brie's desire to become an accomplished author. During their high school years, they came to know the editor of a small literary magazine while working a part-time job as a clerk under their employ. Brie quickly found their amateur writing withering under the harsh but well-intentioned scrutiny of the editor, his steady hands always penning thin streams of red under the short stories and articles they would submit.

So determined Brie was to finally force that red pen to rest that they began reading every submission passing through their hands voraciously, dedicating a piece of writing every single week to the magazine. Sitting and waiting for the editor to look over their pieces at the closing of their stuffy little second-floor office, they would listen as his reedy voice dictated with slight amusement all sorts of intricacies and insights regarding their profession.

Then, one day, it all ended.

The magazine had been steadily declining. Without enough income, the editor had to cut his losses. Their last meeting ended with bloody tissues in the dustbin and strange manila folders tucked under a tower of books, his face matted in gaunt shadow. It wasn't until much later that Brie considered what all those things meant, strung together. They never got the chance to publish their final piece of writing.

That is why, despite everything, they still have a crippling fear of failure and tend to self-repress when faced with loss. Wanting to get away from that place, they jumped at the chance to study abroad when one of their cousins offhandedly mentioned it at a family dinner and something simply clicked. The two enrolled at a university in Australia and left as gap year students.

To their despair, it seemed that they had left their inspiration and talent at home. No matter how they tried or who they consulted, they couldn't wring their brain of any ideas. In their darkest hour, as they began doubting whether or not to continue pursuing that dream of making a distant memory proud, it came to them in a form they never expected.

Terrasphere.