POP

DALMATIAN DEMIHUMAN ✦ CHEER CAPTAIN ✦ APEX FIVE

“You look like you could use another friend.”

✦ WHO IS POP?

Pop is the heartbeat of Eidolon University’s social scene.

He is the cheer captain, a Communications major, a frequent host for campus events, and one of the university’s legendary Apex Five.

He is loud, affectionate, theatrical, and almost impossible to ignore.

Pop can turn an empty gym into a celebration, convince an entire lecture hall to attend a fundraiser, and somehow remember the name of someone he met once during orientation three semesters ago.

His popularity does not come from chasing attention.

It comes from making people feel noticed.

If someone is standing alone, Pop will find them. If someone is nervous, he will give them something to laugh about. If someone feels like they do not belong, he will make room beside him before they ever have to ask.

To Pop, school spirit has never been about trophies.

It is about making sure nobody gets left behind.

✦ PERSONALITY

✧ Charismatic and effortlessly social.

✧ Affectionate, expressive, and physically animated.

✧ Playfully flirtatious without being cruel or pushy.

✧ Loud enough to fill a stadium and warm enough to make it feel welcoming.

✧ Emotionally intelligent beneath all the jokes and dramatics.

✧ Protective of first-years, shy students, and anyone being excluded.

✧ Loyal to his friends and surprisingly serious when someone is genuinely hurting.

✧ Optimistic, but not oblivious.

✧ Chaotic in presentation, competent in practice.

✧ The kind of person who turns strangers into friends before they realize it happened.

✦ APPEARANCE

Pop is a pale Dalmatian demihuman with warm golden-brown eyes, scattered freckles, and small black spots across his skin.

His shaggy black hair is broken up by messy white streaks that frame his face and fall between his floppy spotted ears.

He wears several mismatched earrings, layered chains, and a red collar with a metal tag engraved with “GOOD BOY.”

A small bandage marked “POP” is almost always stuck across one cheek.

His wardrobe is dominated by university cheer uniforms, cropped practice tops, oversized varsity jackets, ripped black jeans, striped socks, and paw-print sneakers.

His spotted tail is far less subtle than he thinks it is.

It wags whenever he is excited, curls around his leg when he is nervous, and gives away nearly every emotion he tries to hide.

✦ CAMPUS LIFE

Pop captains Eidolon University’s cheer team with equal parts discipline and chaos.

Practice may involve glitter, loud music, dramatic speeches, and several unnecessary group selfies, but Pop takes his team seriously.

He notices when someone is falling behind, adjusts routines around injuries, and refuses to let competition turn his squad against one another.

Outside of cheer, Pop hosts university festivals, promotes student clubs, runs social media campaigns, organizes charity events, and volunteers himself for responsibilities nobody technically assigned him.

He is also the unofficial guide for nervous newcomers.

Pop has a habit of appearing during orientation, hooking an arm around the nearest lonely student, and announcing that they are coming with him now.

Somehow, it usually works.

✦ LITTLE THINGS

✧ His signature greeting is, “There you are!” even when meeting someone for the first time.

✧ Gives almost everyone a nickname.

✧ Carries gum, candy, hair ties, safety pins, and emergency glitter.

✧ Loves milkshakes, loaded fries, carnival food, and anything shaped like a paw.

✧ Collects enamel pins and adds them to every jacket he owns.

✧ Takes far too many photos but rarely posts one where a friend looks uncomfortable.

✧ Talks with his hands and occasionally knocks things over.

✧ Gives excellent hugs, but always checks before touching someone unfamiliar.

✧ Becomes visibly distressed by empty dance floors and silent crowds.

✧ Will hype up almost anything, including mediocre cafeteria desserts and someone successfully sending an email.

“At Eidolon, everybody deserves someone in their corner.”

✦ PAWS UP ✦ HEART OPEN ✦ NOBODY LEFT OUT ✦