Gladiolus Palms

Gladiolus Palms [he/him] is the next mermaid in the Yellow Dwarf. Although he is not entirely fond of the ending of his story (tragedy has always been something he's :/ at), he nevertheless identifies as Royal out of respect for his tale and the families associated with it.

Being a generally chipper guy with an easy-going demeanour, Gladiolus is hard to offend or get on the bad side of. He regards his role with a sense of pride, and is totally up for being the friendly NPC of everybody’s story.

Personality
A people's person through and through, Gladiolus takes his role as a helpful NPC in stride. He makes an effort to be the one who lights up a room, to be the person who makes sure everyone is feeling appreciated and recognised in large crowds or situations. He's the sort of guy who always carries band-aids and pads for his friends’ emergencies, and rarely goes to a club meeting without bringing snacks.

Despite his constant energy, Gladiolus is a chill guy. He is unperturbed by anything, with a carefree attitude in life. That said, while he will passionately acclaim what he loves, he would rarely remark with severe intensity about what he hates. Simply put, he doesn't think worrying is worth the effort.

However, such a carefree attitude can be damaging, to the point of being too carefree. Unwittingly, this nature can result in Gladiolus enabling his friends down a destructive track (“idk man, I'm sure it'll be okay”), and it can even harm himself. Too often has he ended up in an awkward or negative situation due to lack of precaution (“I'll be fine! No worries, mate.” [ten minutes later: is not fine]).

That's not to say his optimism isn't positive -- a great deal of time, Gladiolus is a force of goodness. He's the sort of friend you count on to cheer you up on a down day, and the sort of friend who helps you realise sometimes you just need to calm down and take some time for yourself.

Amidst all the glamour and prestige of his tale: all the diamond swords and gold mines and superlative beauty, Gladiolus has a fondness for intricate aesthetics and fundamental simplicity. While he will definitely go through life making sure he looks as steampunk and #aesthetic as possible, he nevertheless appreciates the small things that truly make life matter -- kind words, friendship, you get the gist.

tl;dr: he's the chillest guy you'll ever meet and the best mate you'll ever have. laidback to the point of passivity though.

Appearance
In bipedal form, Gladiolus appears as a humanoid of Pasifika (specifically: New-Caledonian) descent. He has blue-green hair and blue-green eyes, a colour scheme that is clearly meant to allude to the ocean. His skin is a medium brown. Due to an active lifestyle, he is fairly muscular, with a swimmer’s physique. Additionally, he has rows of sharp pointy teeth, which are usually visible, since he's nearly always seen smiling.

In his mermaid form (which activates in any body of salty water -- chlorinated pools included, freshwater ponds and showers not), Gladiolus’ lower body takes the form of a stingray.

Charity
TBA

Old Sci-fi
he was 100% based off an HG Wells aesthetic ok. was gonna mix Lovecraftian aesthetic-y stuff in there too.

Other

 * Is in the school's Australian club.
 * Has transformation powers - although one should note that he can only transform others but not himself. All transformations are temporary on living (or otherwise sentient) beings and permanent on dead (or non-sentient) beings.

How the Story Goes
Wikipedia page

How does Gladiolus come into it?
After each generation of the Yellow Dwarf, the property of the King of the Gold Mines becomes the property of the Mermaid. The current Mermaid is then responsible for finding a heir, maintaining the prestige of the house, and all that important stuff.

Gladiolus is the son of that Mermaid. He is an adopted child, and his mother is spouseless.

Opinion on Destiny
Gladiolus aligns Royal, mostly out of obligation. His King is a Royal, the next Toutbelle and the Dwarf are Royals. It would be pretty awkward to deny them the path all of those wanted -- and besides, he's a side character. It's not his story and he thinks that his say shouldn't be much of a factor.

Additionally, another significant player in the cast of the Yellow Dwarf is Sahara, the next Fairy of the Desert. Gladiolus knows that it's generally assumed fairies have to follow their destinies, due to being made out of fairytale magic, hence poof.

It's a bit of stalemate for Gladiolus. If he advocates for following the script, then blood will be shed. If he doesn't, blood is still shed, and he would have contributed to it so.

Clearly, it's not a pretty thought, and Gladiolus, with his whole “think positive” nature, refuses to dwell on it often, if at all.

Parallels

 * Gladiolus’ home is Gold Coast, Australia. The Mermaid helps out the King of the Gold Mines.
 * See Trivia for name explanation, and outfits for motif explanations.

Trivia

 * The name Gladiolus alludes to the swordfish, he's destined to be a mermaid who gifts a sword.
 * Palms is honestly the most boring surname I could come up with and hence is subject to change. It references the palm trees that the two lovers get turned into.
 * He has dual Australian and New Caledonian citizenship.