Matt

drawn by Knife

Matthew is a student at Galia, under the Psychic discipline of Telepathy. He gains his powers from the Crystal.

## Personality

Matt is just about as studious as he looks, often procrastinating work long past its due date. Despite this, he still gets good grades and has a surprising affinity for math and logic puzzles. He can be easily overwhelmed by loud noises and chaos, and usually keeps to himself unless he has a strong bond with someone. Matt is often overwhelmed by his powers and feels like he is being intrusive whenever he overhears private information.

Contrary to his brooding outside, Matt is surprisingly cheerful and outgoing when he has the chance. When he's allowed to escape the constant overstimming from his powers, he is upbeat and enthusiastic.

## Powers

Matt studies under the psychic discipline, specializing in mind reading and telepathy. His powers are connected to the Crystal, and he will die if it is destroyed.

When he is overwhelmed, he often gets migraines and sensory overload. This can occur from too many people talking at once, loud and angry thoughts, or extreme stress. In the most serious situations he will go into a hive-mind state, projecting his powers onto anyone nearby, which is often overwhelming and painful for everyone that is connected.

As a gift from Eli, he received a necklace that suppresses his passive mind reading to a manageable level. This significantly reduces his risk of entering his hive-mind state.

## Relationships

**Beau** - A close friend who he regularly makes nerdy puns with. They often slack off together and play video games.

**Chianti** - A close friend who constantly reminds him to do work. She's 90% of the reasons why he does any work. She trusts him enough to let down her mind wards.

**Elijah** - His boyfriend. Eli can calm Matt down from a panic attack more easily than almost anyone else, and they snuggle regularly in the basement.

**Estelle** - Eli's ride or die friend, who unfortunately has too much information for Matt to be comfortable around. He's afraid that she'll use it as blackmail one day, but he knows that she'd never intentionally do anything to hurt him.

## Background

Matthew's parents were guardians of the Crystal, tasked with keeping it safe from those who seek its power for their own gain. During his first year at Galia, his parents mysteriously disappeared while on guard duty, cementing his fear of disappearing and premature death. Without parental support, completing his transition and keeping up with school work was extremely overwhelming, and he ended up falling behind. This habit of extreme procrastination continues to the present day, as he has never truly recovered from his previous mental state.

## Trivia

* Matt's name and blue hair were accidentally inspired by Matthew Bellamy of the band Muse (because Knife is a muse hoe and can't have original ideas)
* The first time he went into a hive-mind state, Matt grew fangs that persisted even after he calmed down. These were eventually hidden by Eli, although not before they did considerable damage to his lower lip.
* Matt's username is d^3x/dt^3, which is a math pun referencing the formula for calculating jerk