Fretribution

Fretribution (right) with Robynne.

**Eddie Hales**, better known by his handle **Fretribution** or **Fret** for short, is a character in *Magical Girl Policy*. He is a junior at SAU and president of SFEERS, the campus's resident nerd club.

## Appearance

Fretribution is tall and fit, with his arms suggesting he works out. He is of similar height to Robert, who is at least 6'2''. His hair is kept a stylized mess that is said to be appropriate for a skater or hipster rocker. It's a color that borders on black and dark blue called midnight bluenette. He has bright blue eyes.

## Personality

Fretribution is laid back but outgoing. He is rather attentive and observant of others. He is group-focused and a skilled leader, as his friendly demeanor and emboldening aura help to push others out of their comfort zones.

He is passionate about video games and classic rock music. He and his brother are avid *Corona Forge* players, being part of a team that competes in tournaments around the state. Another favorite game of his is *Tour de Rock*, buying all of the downloadable content for the game and often bringing his setup to SFEERS events. He'd joined SFEERS his freshman year at his sister's suggestion and later became its president.

## Abilities

Fretribution possesses an aura with the texture of crushed velvet. It urges those in close proximity to him to be slightly bolder and more outgoing, with the effect more noticeable the closer one stands to him. It reacts to his emotions, becoming more potent while he's excited. He does not appear to be aware of the aura, but it helps make him an effective leader and seems to be a key factor to SFEERS's swelling membership.

## Biography

### Background

Eddie was born into a family with a brother and an older sister. When he started attending Schuyler Adamson University, he joined the nerd club SFEERS, using his Fretribution handle, at his sister's recommendation. With no one else running, he eventually became president of the club.

SFEERS began to grow at a breakneck pace under Fretribution's leadership, apparently due to his aura getting his fellow officers to be more active in recruitment and for prospective members to more readily join. The now massive club poses a threat to cheerleading captain Cammy DeCroix's controlled Student Association votes, so she sends a pair of cheerleaders to the opening social in hopes of manipulating the club, but they fail to fit in with their feigned nerdy interests. Fret finds that SFEERS's requests for promotion are being ignored, which slightly impedes the club's growth.

### Weeks 2-4

Now a junior, Fretribution plays some *Corona Forge* online. One of his teammates, Blustery, finds herself the target of sexist remarks from the other players. Her witty comeback gets all but PwnTang827 to knock it off, who is called out by Fret before leaving the game.

The next day, Fretribution mans the SFEERS Club Week booth along with GalleyGirl, having brought his *Tour de Rock* setup for interested visitors to play. They are approached by Robynne, who was recommended the club by Cory and Eli for having an *Aspect Realms* guild that won't associate her character with Robert. Fret recognizes her voice from yesterday's *Corona Forge* game, though she dismisses it as a coincidence due to her handle now being Waveform. She signs up for the club and plans to attend its opening social.

Fretribution is surprised to see Robynne and Vivian show up to the SFEERS opening social in their cheerleader uniforms, having been ordered to do so by Cammy just like the two cheerleaders from last year. After changing, Robynne finds Fret at the *Tour de Rock* setup to observe his aura. She lets the aura calm her nerves as she sings in the game, being terrible at it due to never singing with her new voice. Fret thanks her for embarrassing herself to help the others feel at ease, as he believes a goal of the club is to let its typically shy and insular members open up to each other. Stacy overhears him mention the Promotion Squad ignoring the club, so she offers herself, Robynne, and Vivian to help with promotion.

## Relationships

### Robert Dreese/Robynne Darling

Fretribution and Robynne happen to meet in a game of *Corona Forge*, with him being one of the few to stand up for her in the midst of the team's sexist comments. He meets her in person at the SFEERS Club Week booth and recognizes her voice, but she writes it off as she had since changed her handle to Waveform. The two share a love of classic rock music. Fret feels she understands the club's goal of helping its often isolated nerds be more comfortable mingling with each other and thinks she'd be a good officer candidate. Having been ignored by the Promotion Squad for so long, he's glad to have her as a form of contact between SFEERS and the Squad. Robynne dislikes that she finds him attractive, but makes a point to observe his aura that seems to be a major factor in the club's growth and subsequent targeting by Cammy.

## Trivia

* In Chapter 23's author commentary, Taralynn Andrews says Fretribution is one of her favorite characters for being both chill and a go-getter.
* Fretribution's surname has not appeared in *Magical Girl Policy* itself, but nevertheless has seen changes:
	+ It first appeared on the roster of the Magical Gridiron Posse fantasy football league, which lists his full name as Eddie "Fretribution" VanHalen. This is a reference to Eddie Van Halen, songwriter and guitarist of American rock band Van Halen.
	+ In a August 15, 2021 direct message to Magical Girl Policy Wiki administrator Pizza the Chaotic on Discord, Andrews stated that she has changed Fretribution last name to "Hales", citing that him sharing a name with the real Eddie Van Halen was "too distracting". This was a follow-up to her public Discord announcement the day before where she said creating consistency in the names of Vivian Feliz and Lilly Winters was a major goal of her revisions to the existing MGP chapters.