Rishona
Rishoniel (a.k.a. Rishona, Shona, Mama Bird)
Rishona is best known as a nearly mythic figure in the Blessed Choir, one of the most prolific and best trainers of fledglings in angelic history. She is also a hotly contested subject, given her status as the only female-identifying angel. Most angels of the Blessed Choir refer to her by her original name, Rishonael, and use only masculine pronouns when discussing her, upholding the official stance that all angels are male and no angel has a mother.
The angels who were directly trained by Rishona are the most likely to refer to her as female and use her proper name and pronouns. Legacy fledglings trained by those angels are less likely without having met Rishona personally, but are usually more open to the validity of trans identification.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Rishona usually presents as very darkly-skinned black with dark hazel-gold eyes and long, coiled hair just past her shoulders that she sometimes works into locks. While she is the only known angel to identify as female, she is also limited in what other forms she can take and is restricted to masculine presentation, much to her eternal frustration. She usually chooses a form as close to androgynous as she can manage. Her wings are hawk-shaped, smooth and radiantly white.
Special abilities
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Feminine, she/her
Sexuality
Bisexual
Education
How would they cope with a sudden academic requirement? -- She would resent being forced to do something and then probably only get half the answers right for want of a straight answer. Everything would be annotated to explain why she answered the way she did. Research papers are long and convoluted, but still insightful and well-explained.
Morality & Philosophy
- How do they respond to those in need? -- As an outcast, Rishona is essentially living homeless on the edges of Marquette and is fairly well known among the homeless there. She shares what she has as much as she can with those in greatest need and accepts what they offer in return, even if it isn’t something she needs, like food. She’ll pass food on to someone in greater need but she won’t ever refuse someone willing to share. She knows how much it costs to share when you’re homeless.
- What are their moral priorities? -- Rishona stands up for anyone who expresses themselves freely and honestly. She will fight for everyone’s freedom of expression. While she’s very passionate about this, she tends to get focused on the concept rather than the people and sometimes runs over well-meaning allies in the process.
- How comfortable are they with being petty or cruel? -- Rishona loves to be petty as long as there is no permanent emotional or relationship damage. She’s queen of the snapback and always seems to have something catty to say in reply. She never attacks people, though and makes sure they understand her insults are only ever in play.
- Under what circumstances would they appear naked in public? -- Due to her body dysmorphia, it would take a very great deal of very specific circumstances to leave Rishona naked in public.
Personality Characteristics
Likes & Dislikes
- What are their food preferences -- Rishona loves to explore new things and has a level of recklessness when it comes to food. She loves spicy things and is always seeking another level of spicy. Her favorite regular treat is Indian curry, though and she’ll go to great lengths to get it.
- What irrationally irritates them? -- Before her defection, many angels observed that Rishoniel was particularly prickly: everything seemed to irritate him. Now that she has the freedom to express herself more in line with her personal identity, Rishona harbors only one truly irrational irritation: buzzing insects. Mosquitoes, flies, bees, stinkbugs, every one of them is the target of rage and a swatting hand. She kills them all without remorse. Except honeybees. Honeybees are cool.
- What style music do they prefer? -- Rishona listens to whatever someone is playing, especially if it’s someone she knows performing. She enjoys listening to live performances and sometimes drops of out nowhere to listen in. If left to herself, she loves jazz, especially oboe and clarinet.
Hygiene
- How involved is their hygiene? -- She tends to spend long periods of time making sure her hair and feathers are arranged to her liking, as well as grooming the feathers more traditionally. While she is viciously protective of her natural hair, she will use artificial dyes to color her feathers, usually in either trans pride or bi pride colors.
Social
Family Ties
- How is their relationship with their parents? -- Rishona’s relationship with Wayin is extremely complicated. She loves and honors him as her father, but also hates him because he refuses to allow her to present as she identifies. She feels very strongly about the message of love and acceptance that she feels is the heart of Christ’s message and does her best to live that out, viewing it as the ultimate purpose of angels on earth. She also prays on a regular basis, hoping to hear some word of comfort from her father. Nothing has come yet.
Social Aptitude
- How do they handle being lost? -- Rishona has a very keen sense of direction and is seldom lost for long anywhere in Marquette or the surrounding towns. If she finds that she doesn’t recognize an area, she’ll slowly retrace her steps until she sees something familiar.
- How good are they with children and/or animals? -- She always has time for children regardless of what else might be going on. She’s actually very well known among the street kids for stopping to play basketball and she never cheats and uses her wings. They also know she’s good for food if they’re hungry or water if they’re thirsty, though she won’t supply anything bad for them and dealers know to stay away if she’s around.
- How would they cope with being abducted by aliens? -- If she was alone, she would calmly and politely negotiate her way home. If she was with humans, especially kids, she would be much more aggressive in her posturing, still negotiating but much more demanding and protective.
- How do they concern or terrify people who do not know them? -- At first glance, everything about Rishona is strange: she’s a single angel and female-appearing when every other angel is male. If she wasn’t an angel, she would have enough trouble being a homeless, trans woman of color. She’s very conscious that her appearance is off-putting and works to appear as normal as possible without sacrificing her identity. In particular, white conservative Christians tend to have an issue with her.
Relationships
History
Milo was assigned to raise fledglings with Rishona when her bethki, Malamael was killed during a training exercise, leaving her with five young fledglings who still needed to be trained. They found their training and parenting approaches were highly compatible and they enjoyed each other's company, so they continued to team up for training after that.
History
Lunariel was in one of the largest clutches of fledglings Rishona attempted to train alone. She ended up asking for help from two other angels, but Lunariel mostly remembers her as his trainer. He adored her growing up and strove to learn everything she could teach him, including a lot of philosophy and psychology he wouldn't have gotten from another trainer. As an adult, Lunariel hotly contests angels who refer to Rishona by the wrong name or pronouns. He has been known to fight with his own rishki, Asiriel, about the nature of Rishona's identity.
Nicknames & Petnames
Rishona was the first one to shorten Lunariel's name to "Lu." Lunariel addresses Rishona as "Mama" unless he is in the company of angels hostile to Rishona's gender identity.
Alignment
Chaotic Good
Current Location
Species
Spouses
Milo
(lebki)
Siblings
Children
Pronouns
she/her
Gender
male
Eyes
Hazel-gold
Hair
long, coiled black hair
Height
6'1"
Weight
190 lbs
Related Myths
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