Andy Marino

Boys of the World

**Andy Marino** is a recurring side character and love interest for Jewel Mikoto in *Neon Millenium.* He is the leader and founder of his rock/metal band known as "Boys of the World".

## Appearance

Andy is a relatively tall, slightly chubby male with long and frizzy light brown, almost caramel brown hair which reaches his shoulders and upper back, as well as a strand which covers his left eye and left side of his face, for reasons unknown. He has a very masculine face, with a strong and defined roman shaped nose, slightly plump lips, and defined jaw. On his face he also has faint facial hair, such as a wispy mustache and goatee which are lighter color than his hair. He also has prominent fluttery eyelashes to accommodate his deep, warm toned violet purple eyes, which Jewel comments multiple times as being "very beautiful".

For his attire, Andy wears contemporary clothing for Ertho, especially Ascaria's more geometric and 60s inspired style. He wears a plethora of denim clothes, often with band t-shirts and tight denim jeans, often adorned with belts, chains, and keychains. For shoes, he wears worn sneakers, although sometimes he wears combat boots when in more strenuous scenarios. His clothing draws from the heavy metal scene of the 1980s in America, although in Neon Millenium, such a subculture is known as "Baalnims", in reference to the term "Baal" in Ertho culture which refers to spiritual beings whom are considered "evil" or "unknown", and "-nim", a cultural slang suffix which refers to a group.

## Personality

Being a natural born leader, Andy is very sociable, charismatic, and kind, enjoying taking the lead and being very assertive where others wouldn't be. Andy acts very much unbothered by comments others make about his appearance and lifestyle, a result of being criticized and bullied in his youth, however he takes great care not to let those comments and rumors be true, as he is still sensitive about many things personally, which results in him being very conscious of how he presents himself. Andy is also slightly hypocritical at times, as he has strong biases as a result of the abuse in his youth, where he can easily trust and forgive others like him, but is very petty, suspicious, and unforgiving towards those unlike him, such as Alben Harris.

Andy is also very creative and intelligent, as he studied psychology while in university, and as a result of his skill in understanding emotions, he is very empathetic and sweet, often taking on a brotherly or paternal role to those much younger than him, such as Incu Oni or Mikki Gioiello. He also utilizes his psychology expertise to educate others in emotions, making him a very excellent conflict resolver and therapist, with him often taking the role of an educator to explain the actions of others and lecture others for their behavior, such as when he lectured Juliet for being upset at Guliani's constructive criticism of her opponent's fashion designs rather than insulting them, with Andy explaining that Guliani's abrasive behavior is often the result of him being: "placed in situations where Guliani is often made mad" and that Juliet ahould know that "someone's common circumstances don't define who they really are."

Andy often thrives in casual scenarios, often acting very relaxed and silly, sometimes due to his recreational use of marijuana, and his more affectionate forms of communication and physical affection towards both friends and loved ones. In more combat-oriented scenarios, Andy is very cowardly and helpless, magnified by the fact that he is not very physically strong, as well as his augur not being combat useful. After the rescue and adoption of Magne, Andy becomes less cowardly and more open into jumping into danger, which is aided in his gift of the spark of the Flayer Flame by Juvell, allowing him to more openly fight.

## History

Born 24 years ago as Alexandra Marino to James Marino and Henner Marino, Andy is the eldest child of six children, with him having five sisters. From the very start, Andy had a rocky relationship with his mother, as Andy, despite being born female he was very masculine and identified as such early on, but with his father he was very amicable and affectionate, often spending time with his father building things. Around the age of eleven, his father took him to his first concert, the (at the time) unknown yet soon to explode in popularity band known as Calvarez, with Curtis Blanco leading. This event changed Andy for the rest of his life, making him obsessed with metal and rock music, which caused even more of a rift with his mother. Around the age of 14, his father died suddenly, which destroyed Andy. Now without his blanket of safety that was his father, he was forced to hide his hobbies and argued with his mother, even resulting in him nearly ending his life from unprocessed grief. Alongside the abusive relationship with his mother, he was forced to take the role of a parental figure for his sisters as a result of his mother becoming neglectful. Once Andy turned 18, he quickly ran off to university, where he discovered his love for psychology and easily graduated with a master's degree. During university, he met Wade Gonzales, and the two quickly became friends, and some point the two took each other's virginities. While at university, he also butted heads with Alben Harris and various sororities which attempted to bully and shame his lifestyle, but Andy quickly ignored them and met others, some of whom ended up joining his band which he formed with Wade and him as the leaders, most notably Pieryo Kane, whom was once part of one of these sororities, but quickly became friends with Andy and abandoned his former university lifestyle for Andy's more close knit group.

Around three years ago, Andy moved to Esmery Town, alongside members of his band, and ended up moving into a flat, sharing it with Myron Galloway, whom at the time was a member of Hallowed Core. After Hallowed Core's defeat and dissolution, Myron met and became friends with Jewel Mikoto, whom he introduced to Andy. Before this formal meeting, Andy had spotted Jewel in a record store and fell immediately in love with her.