Here's an intro to my OC Anthony. Original version of this was written in August 2022 [screenshot for posterity]; updated in September 2023.
Origins
HOLY SHIT THERE WAS EPIC DRAMA [You don't have to read that, but I'm just putting it there.]
It says a fucking LOT about how fond I am of this asshole that I wasn't just like "fuck it" and abandoned him as a character, but have kept writing him since... all of that went down in 2020. But yeah, I really am quite attached to him, and that affection for his character has only grown and deepened with time as I've continued to write more and more stories with him, fleshing out the details and "voice" of his character even more. And he knows I wuv him, fucking spoiled brat 😂😂😂
Having said that, he has also evolved a bit since I began writing him in November 2019.
-In 2021 I experimented with writing him as FTM in the Under the Rose universe. From there I have written him as trans in other fics like Only Mags and its prequel As You Are, and standalones like Changing Colors and To The East And To The West. When he's FTM, his backstory tends to be a bit different from the one established in early fics like the Learning To Fly universe, as we will explore later.
-To further distance from the unfortunate circumstances of... unfortunateness, I have sometimes written him as not-a-lawyer, whether he started off in law and left the profession [as we see in As You Are], or he has another career entirely: he is a chef in Let Them Eat Cake, an archaeology professor in the Corn of Eternity universe and To The East And To The West, and a veterinarian in Dorky Dancing. As of fall 2023, I am probably going to write him not-exclusively-but-mostly as a vet going forward, both to continue distancing from the past and because he looks fucking hot in scrubs ok.
Appearance
[Blanket disclaimer: I do not engage in any kind of parasocial activity with celebrities, and my characters are not their faceclaims.]
Since I began writing him in 2019, Anthony's faceclaim is the British actor Nigel Harman. However, Anthony is younger than him, and Anthony's voice is a bit different, a bit deeper and more RP - kindaaaaaaa like Benedict Cumberbatch but not quite. [As an explanation: I'm from Murrika and never watched NH in anything until finally 2023, so that was four years to develop an inner voice without influence.]
Cis!Anthony is also taller than his faceclaim - about 6'2" - and hairier. Short black hair [that's starting to show a touch of silver if he's in his forties], green eyes, boyishly handsome, sometimes wears glasses.
FTM!Anthony is about 5'10", and looks not that much different from his cis counterpart apart from top surgery scars and *cough and vague hand gestures* yanno.
When Anthony is a lawyer he wears suits for work, and when he's a professor he tends to go with vests over button-down shirts. Otherwise, Anthony typically dresses kind of preppy/normcore - think cashmere sweaters, jeans, that sort of thing. He usually wears brogues on his feet. Elegant in a simple, bland kind of way.
In some universes Anthony was goth as a teenager, and in some universes he still has a tendency to wear stuff like his old Nirvana shirt but that's about as far as it goes, though he wears a goth-esque suit when he marries Sören in As You Are.
Anthony is clean-shaven and shaves with a straight razor that his uncle gave him.
Background
In most universes, Anthony was born on February 4, 1980 in London, England to Elaine and Roger. He is an only child. He grows up in Blackheath.
In most universes where he's cis prior to 2023, his full name is Cornelius Anthony Hewlett-Johnson. However, I am sort of getting away from this, so you will see Cornelius Anthony in earlier fics and Anthony Cornelius in 2023+ fics.
[Also, Sören tends to roast Anthony, calling him "Corny" or "Corn"; Anthony calls him IKEA.]
When Anthony is AFAB, his deadname is Antonia Evangeline Elizabeth Hewlett-Johnson, and he goes with Anthony Trent Hewlett-Johnson, choosing Trent as his middle name because "I didn't know if I wanted to be Trent Reznor or fuck him."
In universes where he's cis, he has a close relationship with his mother [though she is a bit overbearing], a distant but cordial relationship with his father, and is close to his paternal gay uncle who coincidentally is named Nigel.
In universes where he's trans, usually either one or both his parents tend to die before his egg cracks, OR he has a strained relationship with his mother [who wanted a daughter] and a non-existent relationship with his Tory father. He usually gets along exceptionally well with his uncle, who [if still alive] supports him through his transition.
If Anthony pursues law, he goes to Cambridge and does a diploma conversion. If he stays in the UK, he usually becomes a criminal defense barrister. If he moves to the US, he usually becomes a civil rights attorney working for the ACLU. [This puts a target sign on his back in As You Are.]
I have also sometimes written Anthony's parents divorcing and Anthony goes with his mum to the States while he's a teenager, so he's a mix of British and American influences.
[November 2023 update: In new projects dating from December 2023 forward, I will be writing Anthony as Jewish, whether on his mother's side or as a convert. He will still be British and all the above will still apply.]
TMI
Anthony is gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay. DID I MENTION HE'S GAY.
[yes, his faceclaim is straight and married to a woman. that also applies to like 99% of the actors whose characters y'all write slash about so don't @ me.]
In universes where he's FTM he's usually had The One Failed Lesbian Experiment In Uni pre-egg-crack which confirms for him that he only has pantsfeels for dudes. In most of the fics where I've written him as FTM, he was married to a guy named Stephen Pemberton [aka Steve] before his egg cracked, and Steve does not take it well when Anthony comes out. In at least one story, Anthony has a child pre-transition and custody is given to Steve because of transphobia. 😡
Anthony also tends to struggle with finding a male partner post-transition [which is true of many non-straight trans men] until his path crosses with Sören, Maglor and/or Nicholas.
Anthony is a versatile top, and a non-switch dominant. When I first began writing Anthony, he and Sören had only a five-year age gap [writing them both in their twenties or thirties] and in 2022 I began writing them with a larger age gap of about 15-18 years, with Anthony being Sören's daddy dom. In some universes Anthony takes Shibari classes and Sören is his rope bunny.
Personality and Other Details
Consistently across the multiverse, Anthony tends to be that weird probably-on-the-neurospicy-spectrum smart kid who gets bullied in school. Because of his experience with bullying, Anthony learns how to "mask" and come off as suave and calm/cool in public while in private he's a sensitive dork and a hot mess of insecurity. Anthony comes off a lot more extroverted than he actually is. He also hungers for authenticity and not having to be "on" all the time; Sören gives him that outlet because Sören is unapologetically himself even when it pisses people off.
Anthony is extremely intelligent, analytical and observant and has a tendency to ask a lot of questions and make people feel like they're on trial even when he's not a lawyer. He is usually pretty good at reading people [he was able to tell Sören was a sub/bottom more or less right away], though he's had blind spots in his judgment [his asshole "friends" in the Learning To Fly universe].
Though Anthony is a "posh twat" as Sören teasingly puts it [Sören also calls him "Posh Spice", because he knows Anthony hates the Spice Girls; bratting is Sören's love language], Anthony likes "a bit of rough" which is part of his draw to Sören [and Maglor].
Anthony also understands his privilege, and tries to help those with less.
This also means that Anthony tends to be driven to make a difference in some way, though the motivation varies with continuity. If he's motivated primarily by dislike of injustice and the need to fight for others, he goes into law. If teachers saved him from potentially going down the wrong path as a bullied loner misfit, he goes into academia not merely to indulge his geekery but with hopes to be a positive influence. "I touch the future, I teach." [x] If he is steered into volunteer work with animals as an outlet for his youthful angst, he becomes a veterinarian both to help animals and the people who love them.
Of course, sometimes he has other reasons for other professions, usually motivated by family sentiment, like joining the Royal Navy in honor of his uncle in the Northern Lights universe or cooking in honor of his late mother in Let Them Eat Cake. My friend Anthony taught himself how to play piano at a very young age, and he can speak multiple languages fluently.
Anthony is Finarfin reincarnated. As with Sören [Fëanor], the reincarnation is a major theme in some universes and barely mentioned if at all in other universes. However, there are usually always little tells, like Anthony's love of swans and the sea, and his mediation/negotiation skills. [Silmarella!Anthony has a blond mullet, which will never stop being hilarious.] Yes, Finarfin is still canonically alive, but in my multiverse which is obviously AUs and thus not required to be strictly canon-compliant, Finarfin almost always either 1. dies in the War of Wrath or 2. goes to Gondolin and dies there.
Anthony is a cat person [which is why he becomes a vet in some universes]. He enjoys reading and gardening, and he runs. In some universes he's also into meditating and doing yoga. He still likes playing older video games like Super Mario Bros and Sonic even when he's in his forties. He also still likes cartoons. His favorite authors are Ursula K. Le Guin and N.K. Jemisin.
Anthony really likes cake, which started in his life as Finarfin, but he tries to keep his sweet tooth in check to stay fit. His comfort food is mashed potatoes like his mum made, and he has texture issues about certain foods like sushi which makes him come off like a picky eater.
As someone who came of age in the 1990s, Anthony listens to a lot of grunge/alternative, but also likes neo-soul [Jamiroquai, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, etc]. Anthony had a huge crush on Gavin Rossdale [Bush] back in the day, which is another thing Sören affectionately roasts him about.
Anthony is an Aquarius, an INTJ [or an INFJ-A who mistypes INTJ], and his enneagram type is 1w2.
Here are some Anthony-centric fics:
WIPs: