Symon Cantillo

"I don't see what is so fantastic about being a bug, I'm far too small to do anything I want. Traveling is hard enough when you're 5 centimeters tall, and gods, can I even call my miniatures 'miniatures' anymore?"

Symon Cantillo was formerly a human and a traveling merchant who has been stricken with a terrible curse that has turned him into a Miinu.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

As a Human

Physical Appearance

Symon is an adult male with a small lanky build. His skin is a dark, rosey brown and he has south asian features. He has large monolid eyes with dark brown irises and slight bags under his eyes.
He has long black hair that is often tied into a braid, but has slight waves and curls when it is down. It usually ranges in length from his upper back to his mid back.

Apparel

Symon generally wears toned down business wear and jackets. He prefers wearing a long, dark green capelet coat with dark trousers and boots. Often he wears a button down with suspenders underneath. He's usually seen carrying around a satchel where he carries a number of goods and supplies on his person.
Symon is near sighted and requires glasses, so he has a pair of small, round, golden frames that pinch at the nose, rather than hang off his ears. The glasses also have a gold chain with small gems hanging at the end,

As a Miinu

by IbbyWondrous

Physical Appearance

As a miinu, Symon gains many of the traits iconic to the species, such as the hard skin, compound eyes, mandibles, and extra limbs. His Bug kin is that of Tacua Speciosa, or the Giant Colorful Cicada, and his color scheme and body type reflects that, with dark skin separated by bright bands of color, and wings with golden veins. His hair turns a teal color and his eyes bright red.

Apparel

Symon doesn't wear much in the form of clothes in his Miinu form, opting for a simple black capelet with a green trim.

Special abilities

After becoming a Miinu, Symon developed a Spirit Magic magic ability that allowed him to manipulate objects around him with the sound of his cicada calls, however he has no control over this ability as his calls often happen purely out of emotion. He has also been shown to be able to contact the spirits inside the Fossil Stones, as a possible side effect of the Rune Curse.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Expand

Childhood

Symon was born to Farah and Oman Cantillo in the country of Bituin. From a young age, Symon was an odd child who didn't see the world the same as other people. He had a hard time managing emotions, his social skills were poor, and the most innocuous things would overstimulate him. What strange behaviors were tolerable when he was young, quickly became a nuisance to his family. His mother would scold him for making strange noises and gestures in public, and his father would hit him whenever he would get unreasonably upset at something.
As he grew up, Symon tried very hard to fit in with the world around him, and adopt the mannerisms of the 'normal' kids around him. But even with this, he struggled in school and in making friends. He would often keep himself cooped up in his room, having no incentive to go outside and play, so he would develop more introverted hobbies, like studying and crafting. He would often get fixated on a singular hobby for months at a time, sometimes he would drop it and move on, but others would grip him for years. This was especially true with anything that involved delicate work with his hands.
As he grew up he would find a particular interest in antiques and world history, something he developed due to his habit of digging through his backyard and finding the relics of the people who lived there before him. This interest turned into him spending many evenings researching random trinkets he would collect from yard sales and antiques shops. He would eventually learn how to use his crafting skills to repair and restore some of these items himself.
When Symon graduated Secondary school, he'd be sent to serve military service as it fathers request, but was discharged after less then a year due to his 'incompatibility' with the military.

Adulthood

Shortly after graduating university, the country was experiencing an economic crash following a war that had ended just a few months prior, money was becoming tight with the family, and Symon was forced to pick up the slack. But his poor social skills made it difficult for him to do well in most interviews, and finding a job was difficult. That was until he met a local traveling merchant by the name of Raja Panopio, whose stock of rare artifacts immediately caught his attention. He wound up going on a tangent about the artifacts on display, showcasing his extensive knowledge of history and antiques. Even going as far as to correct some mislabeled items on display.
Raja was quite surprised and impressed by the young man's almost inhuman repertoire of knowledge, and hired Symon on the spot as his assistant merchant, boasting about all the opportunities he will have traveling the country with him. Still desperate for a job, Symon accepted.
Symon spent the next five years from then on working with Raja, whos business boomed and expanded with Symon's help. He was able to bring in more money than anyone else in the household. Even when his father was eventually laid off, and his mother's health declining, he was still able to support the whole family based on his income alone. And for the first time, he felt like he was actually valuable to his family.
But as the years went by the excitement of the job began to wear thin, and he found himself pulling long out of town trips, and all-nighters selling or fixing up artifacts. Over time, his passion for them died along with his passion for his job, but with him being the only breadwinner in the house now, he had no choice but to keep working. To clear his mind, he developed a new special interest in the crafting of small miniature dollhouses and furniture, and became quite skilled at it quickly. The discovery of this new hobby concerned his family however, as it seemed to distract him from his job more and more.

The Curse

During a job, Symon and Raja visited an estate sale for a Professor Garrison Anderson, who was recently pronounced dead after disappearing nearly a decade ago. In the the insect exhibition room, Symon knocked over a strange beetle fossil from it's display. When he picked it up to put it back, he felt strong magic radiating from the stone. Raja, a man with a deep degust for insects, refused have something like that in his inventory, and told Symon to leave it. But after feeling the magic in the stone, something in Symon's gut could not let him leave it be, so he did something he would never usually do, he stole the stone.
After returning home he immediately felt sick and guilty for his actions, but would not have time to undo his actions, as the next morning they were set to take a train to Linabo. That morning Symon would awake to the horror of strange hair like growths on his arms that bled as they pierced his skin, which he tried to hide with bandages in a panic. This made him late enough for the train that Raja had to retrieve him from his home in a huff. Before he could bored the train however, Symon got violently ill at the train station and was promptly sent home.
In a matter of weeks, Symon would be inflicted with the Rune Curse by the fossil he stole, and his condition would worsen as his body slowly mutated into a more insectoid form. He began to get sick with human food and crave sap from trees. Unable to work, and with no clear solution to the problem, his family became quite callus to Symon. Not only was his no longer providing money, but his illness had become quite the burden on his family, who now had to take care of him. Over time, his appearance become more repulsive and terrifying to his family, and they turned to locking him in his room to hide him from the snooping neighbors, and even their own sight.
Eventually, they stopped interacting with Symon all together, which included bringing him food and cleaning his wounds and room. Starving, Symon desperately escaped his room through a window and to the maple tree outside to drink from it. He was caught by his father, but by then he had mutated into the form of a giant half human/ half cicada nymph abomination, and he could no longer properly speak. Startled by the beast on his property, his father instinctively shot at it with his gun, wounding Symon in the back as he fled off into the forest.
As he ran, he would become smaller, and smaller, and smaller, before eventually blacking out as he accepted he was probably going to die. But instead, he awoke in the grass, which were now as tall as trees. As he collected himself, he realized that his form had stabilized, into a healthy looking, but still severely injured cicada miinu. He was soon found by Aniso, who took him home to treat his injuries and guide him through the confusing tiny world he'd suddenly found himself in.

Education

Symon went to a normal public school, but initially struggled to keep up in classes, until he learned coping techniques that allowed him survive school with decent grades. Surprisingly, it was university that was more manageable for him. He went to a major university in Minau initially studying to be an archivist, until his parents insisted it was a waste of time and pushed him to switch to business.

Employment

Symon has only ever been employed at Raja's Traveling Antique Emporium, owned by the titular Raja Panopio, where he's worked diligently for a solid 5 years. However, after falling ill to the Rune Curse, he was promptly fired from his job. Raja had come to check on Symon one last time before being so scared of his rather disturbing condition that he cut contact completely.

Mental Trauma

Symon has autism, which has affected him since he was very young. This made life difficult, especially when his family treated the revelation like some horrible curse inflicted on their child, rather than something that was a part of him. His parents would often go to great lengths to stamp out any abnormal behaviors that stemmed from his condition. Sensory meltdowns were harshly punished, his hands would be slapped when he stimmed, eye contact was enforced, and he would be chastised any time he could not read a situation well.
This treatment caused him to adopt the habit of heavily masking avoid ridicule or punishment, which often leaves him stressed and burnt out.

Show spoiler

This coupled with the trauma after dealing with the Rune Curse and his treatment by people he cares about, has left him a bit of a nervous wreck with clear signs of ptsd.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

After becoming a Miinu, Symon finds out that the artifact he had stolen was a very valuable magical beacon for the Miinu and without it, their magic would start to fizzle away, and their societies collapsing with it. Determined to save the fates of his new friends, Symon will do everything in his power to return the stone to it's village. And maybe with it, hopefully be returned back to human form.

Likes & Dislikes

Symon has very niche interests that he develops. For much of his childhood, this was antiques and refurbishing., though it seemed as soon as it became a job for him his passion for it died out. In it's place he developed an interest in creating miniature doll houses, and he will often spend hours working on a project. In fact, anything tinier than it's supposed to be delights him in an odd way, including insects. He is happiest when he is either spending time alone with his hobbies, or sharing an interest with a friend who will listen.
He absolutely hates overstimulation. The loud noises, bright lights, and bad smells of being in town can easily overwhelm him, putting him on edge and at risk of a meltdown. He also hates being in large crowds or social events. The concept of public speaking is a nightmare for him. He's also adverse to non-consensual touch of any kind, even something as simple as a pat on the back or a lean on the shoulder.

Virtues & Perks

Symon is an intelligent and talented young man. He is very quick at picking up new skilled if he is passionate enough about them, and he will often spend a lot of time researching the subject matter of his interest. He is a creative person and finds himself drawn to more artistic pursuits.
He tends to be very empathetic of people around him, and always tries his best to be a kind person. Even other life like animals and insects garner his sympathy, as he often feeds stray cats in the neighborhood, and will rescue an insect from his home rather than killing it.
In a way, his is also a skilled actor. His habit of masking has allowed him to 'put on a character' for people around him, to make him sound more confident and socially competent than he is. He is adept at reading people and mimicking their behaviors and what they want to see in a person.

Vices & Flaws

What Symon has in book smarts and creative intelligence, he lacks in the social etiquette. For him, neurotypical social norms is like a complex rule book he has to memorize, and while sometimes who can fake it for a while, when he is acting himself, he can come off as cold, blunt, and rude. Or sometimes, he will find himself having moment where it's simply too much for him to speak at all, which can come off as off putting to others.
Symon deals with anxiety, depression, and PTSD, which sometimes it can get the better of him. Mood swings and mood lows are not uncommon for him, and he struggles with regulating his emotions. Many times he can be overcome with bursts of crying or rage, which is only worsened when he develops a destructive magic ability tied to his emotions. He is also terrible with communicating how he feels to others, and will bottle up his stress until is explodes in a dangerous meltdown.

Social

Family Ties

Symon has his parents, Oman and Farah, and a 16 sister, Izzah, that they had late into their marriage and that's a whole 12 years younger than him. Symon never had the greatest relationship with his parents, as he did often felt as though he had to go to great lengths to earn their love and attention. Nonetheless he still cared about them.
Once his sister was born, Symon was basically made to help raise her, and take care of her when both of his parents were born. This caused them to be close when she was still little. But things changed when she entered her teenage years, Symon was just then getting his job going and earning a lot of money, and suddenly he was the center of attention, like he'd always wanted, but it lead Izzah to grow jealous of him.

Mannerisms

Symon is a generally quiet and soft spoken person. He's always polite and speak very eloquently. He almost never raises his voice. If he is nervous he will stutter. He often keeps to himself to avoid any accidental physical contact, and he tends to avoid standing out in a crowd. Symon almost never looks someone in the eye, and appears visibly uncomfortable when he does so.
When he is anxious, he tends to hunch over and fidget with his hands, or keep them tightly squeezed together. He will occasionally hug an object close to him, most often in satchel as a form of comfort. When he's home alone or with someone he trusts he will often hum or mumble reassurances to himself. He may also stim by messing with his hair, braiding and unbraiding it repeatedly.
He tends to act like a completely different person when he is fully masking, most often this happens when he is working, as he needs to seem confident to a potential customer. He is quick to adopt the mannerisms and even the accents of people in different regions, which benefits him in earning customer trust. It's only when he starts to get burnt out that cracks his his facade start showing up.

Relationships

Symon Cantillo

Friend

Towards Aniso

5

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Aniso

Friend

Towards Symon Cantillo

5

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History

Aniso encounter Symon passed out an injured soon after he was transformed into a Miinu by the Rune Curse. Being someone that's always out to help stray and feral miinu, he carried Symon back to his home and patched him up. While he was recovering, Aniso taught him everything he needed to know about miinu civilization.
Eventually Symon confessed to Aniso that he was a human, which Aniso laughed off at first before Symon insisted and gave proof by showing off his knowledge of the human world. When Symon learned of the potential to turn back to human by returning the fossil stone, he begged Aniso to help him on the journey. Aniso was obviously hesitant, but he had grown soft for the little cicada man, and didn't want him to get hurt on his own out there., and finally agreed.

Relationship Dynamic

Aniso is one of the rare people who never judges Symon's eccentricities or odd behavior, perhaps cause they just don't come off as odd to him. He's very supportive of Symon's needs and is easily worried about him whenever something happens. Symon deeply appreciates this, as it's something he's sorely missed from friends and family in his human life. As a result, Symon wants to do the best he can to improve himself so Aniso can be proud of him.
They both share in having significant childhood trauma and have formed a bond around helping each other cope with those burdens. Symon's wanderlust encourages Aniso to step out of his comfort zone, and Aniso's openness allows Symon to confront his own emotions.

Ves

Friend

Towards Symon Cantillo

4

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Symon Cantillo

Friend

Towards Ves

4

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History

Symon met Ves when he and Aniso accidently caused her nest to be destroyed while searching for missing Miinu in the abandon house. While Aniso was quick to offer her a new place to stay, Symon was off put by her.
Ves was initially quite mean to Symon, sensing him as a weak, timid man, but over time got to know him more and began to feel a bit bad for him. She could even empathize with his complicated relationship with his family. The two slowly grow closer as they travel together to return the Fossil Stone.

Relationship Reasoning

Ves can relate to an extent the hardship and turmoil Symon is going though with how he's meant to feel about his family and what they did to him. Ves is always there to offer often harsh, but needed advice to him. She often tells him that his real family isn't the one who gave him life, but the one that respects and loves him.

Cullen

Ally

Towards Symon Cantillo

3

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Symon Cantillo

Ally

Towards Cullen

2

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History

Symon meet's Cullen while looking for directions to Treasure City and is stunned to meet another travelling salesman. He is initially admires Cullen's confidence and experience but slowly start to realize he is an uncouth individual. However they need to board the train with him to get to mutant city.
During their long trip Cullen grows more and more paranoid of Symon, eventually coming to the conclusion that he is an assassin come to kill him, and retaliates by attacking him with a knife and attempting to throw him off the moving train. Symon is saved when Ves knocks Cullen out, where they then find signs that he'd contracted a deadly disease from the blood he'd been drinking
Despite just being attacked, Symon insists they take Cullen to the city where he can get medical attention, which causes Cullen to freak out when he wakes. Eventually they are able to get him help and when he has a clear head again, thanks Symon for helping him and promises to help him get to the dock to Nawala Island.

Relationship Reasoning

Initially Symon only needed a guide to Treasure City, but after learning how sick Cullen was, felt the need to help him despite how terrible of a person he was. For Cullen, it allowed him to trust someone for the first time in ages.

Commonalities & Shared Interests

Both Symon and Cullen have history with being traveling salesmen, which initially allows Symon to trust Cullen. Symon can also empathize with the difficulty and stress that comes with the job.

Symon Cantillo

Ally

Towards Lampry

3

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Lampry

Ally

Towards Symon Cantillo

3

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History

Symon met Lampry shortly after entering Bug City, after bringing Cullen to the clinic. Lampry thanks him for going out of his way to save an old friend and invites him to his bar, The Rusty Horn to come see him perform. When he finds out Symon was once human, he quickly becomes invested in hearing everything he knows about human life.

Relationship Reasoning

Lampry finds Symon to be fascinating and can see the potential in the man. He can tell Symon is holding something back and tries his best encourage him to express himself and be more outgoing.

Farah Cantillo

Mother

Towards Symon Cantillo

4

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Symon Cantillo

Son

Towards Farah Cantillo

4

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History

Symon was Farah's first child. She was excited to have a son she could dote on, but as he got older, she started to notice more and more her child's odd behavior. She would try her best to correct what she thought was simply him being antisocial, picky, and emotional. In reality, these were signs of a real neurological condition that she would often harshly insult and criticize Symon for, leading him to believe there was something fundamentally broken about him.

Relationship Reasoning

Symon cares deeply for his mother and is desperate to impress her, but often finds it difficult to do so he pride himself in making it so she doesn't have to work in her old age, even if the gesture often goes unappreciated. Deep down he wishes he was the child his mother bragged about to friends and neighbors, instead it's usually his sister who is valued more.

Izzah Cantillo

Sister

Towards Symon Cantillo

2

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Symon Cantillo

Brother

Towards Izzah Cantillo

3

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History

Symon's parents decided to have Izzah very late in their life. He was already 12 years old by the time she was born. Everything was different after she entered the picture. His mother called her the 'miracle baby' and showered her with the love and attention he craved.
As she got older, Symon would often be compared to her, their parents often saying how much easier she was to raise than him. How she was obedient, friendly, and never made a fuss. She was normal and she was treated better because of it.
Still, Symon cared for his baby sister, spoiling her just as much as his parents did, even if it came out of his own pocket. He started working as soon as he graduated university just so he could provide the best life for her as possible, so that she wouldn't have to work at a young age and she could focus on other persuits.

Relationship Reasoning

Despite everything Symon does for her, the two of them are still distant. Izzah had grown into a bit of a spoiled brat and grew to expect things from Symon rather than appreciate them as the acts of kindness they are. She often berates him for the same odd, anti-social behaviors his parents do, and doesn't like spending time around him often.

Oman Cantillo

Father

Towards Symon Cantillo

2

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Symon Cantillo

Son

Towards Oman Cantillo

2

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History

As soon as Symon was born, Oman was excited to raise a boy that would be like he was growing up, but that idea was crushed as soon as Symon was old enough to speak... and didn't. They boy suffered developmental delays as a toddler, and as he got older his 'quirks' would only make it harder for him to connect to his son. Oman found the boy to be too weak and emotional, and didn't like that he preferred introverted activities, and threw tantrums over silly things.
So he tried to beat the behavior out of him. He'd harshly punish the boy for things as simple as stimming in public, or misunderstanding something, or doing something incorrectly. He'd force him to act like a man, and would enter him into military service.

Relationship Reasoning

Symon is not particularly close to his father due to his abusive tendencies. The two rarely talk casually, and usually there conversations are about finances and his life choices. Symon often tries in vein to impress his father, usually with the purpose of pleasing him and easing tension between them, but it's never enough.

Character Table of Contents

Physical Description
Mental Characteristics
Personality Characteristics
Social

Symon in his human form.

Human Info

Species

Human

Conditions

• Rune Curse

Date of Death

May 2nd

Year of Birth

1900 CE 29 Years old

Birthplace

Minau

Parents

Oman Cantillo

Farah Cantillo

Spouses

Siblings

Izzah Cantillo (Sister)

Current Residence

The Grotto

Gender

Male

Eyes

Dark Brown

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Medium Brown with pink undertones.

Height

170cm (5'7 ft)

Known Languages

Tagalog (Native), English, Spanish, Hindi, Miinuvian

Sexuality

Asexual Homoromantic

Miinu Info

Species

Miinu

Bug kin

Giant Colorful Cicada

Eyes

Red, Compound

Hair

Teal

Skintone/Pigmentation

Black with Green, Red and Teal bands.

Height

6.4cm

by IbbyWondrous

Concept sketches of both his human and miinu forms.
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