000. the kickstarter // glass ceilings.

[frescoes]

You bleed on your own canvas; the rest will follow.


FROM THE THEMIS DATABASE, CIRCA 2063

Jillian Andrews
Age: 20
Birthday: March 16, 2043
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
Conspiracy: Netsach
Rank and Designation: Netsach Operative of Behemoth [Seventh Circle, Liyab]

Born to Jessie and Alice Andrews, Jill was the only girl born to a brood of five, two older brothers preceded her and two boys followed after. Their lives were as comfortable as could be considering that their area was mostly populated by anti-supernatural groups.

Her father maintained a position as a teacher at a local high school while her mother worked as a manager in a restaurant. Her parents doted on her as much as her brothers did, encouraging her natural aptitude for art. Jill started drawing at age six, and progressed quickly from there. By high school, she was firm in her decision to try and earn a spot at the Missouri Fine Arts Academy.

Her father was mostly hands off at school, for all of them. Also he didn’t really understand art as well, being a chemistry teacher, but loved her anyway - one time mixing paints for her out of older ones using his know-how. Jill’s mother would give her books on anatomy and other works of art to help her brush up, but stressed that she should also have a fallback, and she did, starting with teaching sketching at the local YMCA every weekend - her plan being to double major in education and fine arts so that she could come back and teach.

Her awakening had been something that was frightening to her family. On her seventeenth birthday, a sketch she’d made for her brother came to life as soon as she held it out for them to see. This sent a panic through her parents, who ripped the sketchbook from her hands for fear that someone would see.

This changed many things in the Andrews household. Jill was taken out of her AP Arts Program and shifted into a different AP Program. Her parents became agitated towards each other, blaming one or the other for Jill awakening. They eventually separated a year later. Her mother took her two younger brothers, hoping that in keeping them away from her, they wouldn’t “be infected”. Jill’s two older brothers often comforted her, saying it wasn’t her fault, and both eventually began working to support what was left of the family as her father couldn’t cope with the depression and eventually drank to forget.

The events of late began to take their toll on Jill herself. She had no one to turn to, having lost her parents and only having the support of her two brothers, she hid away in an abandoned house near her own, turning the whitewashed walls into canvas for her gift. Graduation came, but her hopes of ever getting into MFAA were dashed - and she took a job as a night waitress at a diner, spending her afternoons drawing in her little hideaway.

Even that would change, as a slew of Taskforce Valkyrie operatives arrived in town near the end of September, 2061 - searching for a supernatural presence that was called in. Jill was tracked down to the diner and in her desperation, let loose her abilities against the operatives present, even then taking great care not to harm any civilians. She ran home to find that it was her father who called her in, hoping that if Jill was gone, he would have his family back. He tried to restrain her but she fought back and ran, grabbing a knife from the kitchen as she did.

Upon arriving at the abandoned house, she let her gifts run wild, practically calling a Paradox as she drew frantically. But… In her desperation - clinging to the knife, knowing that TFV would mean certain death - Jill decided that she wanted at least this to end on her terms. The young Artisan slashed her wrists open vertically, hoping that death would be swift.

She woke up days later, her arms bandaged. She was told that she was safe, that she was with Netsach, and that she was an Artisan - an individual gifted with the ability to breathe life into their artwork. She’d been taken in by the Consipracy and sought to train her to use her abilities. To that end, she was assigned to Aria Skye’s class. While her wounds weren’t deep enough to sever her tendons, she would require plenty of time to heal.

For the first time in a long time, she felt free. Jill’s teachers had nothing but encouragement for her, though she took some time to adjust to her new surroundings: The Falner Estate, Philippines. When asked about her family later on, Jill would tell them that her class was her family now, unable to forget her parents’ betrayal. She would eventually become her class’ leader, with Leo Monsanto as her second. In six months, she adjusted and eventually regained her focus of wanting to create art, choosing to eventually go to the School of Colors in Siquijor once she was cleared.

She encountered Maria Ysobel Castro when she was sent to deliver a message to the Midnight Rider’s offices in Falner. The exchange had been brief, but Jill found the other woman quite attractive - a first in a long time, as she had never really entertained thoughts of a relationship, even though she’d long known she was a lesbian. Oddly enough, Mia - as she preferred to be called - started showing up more often around Falner, exactly where Jill would be at the time. They started dating a little after Jill’s 19th birthday in 2062.

After completing her training program at Balamb Academy, Jill went to the School of Colors to learn more about her gift. She was recently initiated, has since returned to Falner.