Deerington Application

[labyrinthinedark]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Gee
Played-By: Aneurin Barnard

Canon Point: After Sam's arrest.
In-Game Tattoo Placement: left wrist
Current Health/Status: in one piece and hale
Age: unknown (about 20 when taken by the Gentry)
Species: changeling

Content Warnings: lowkey body horror/transformation, mention of claustrophobia, violence

History: Some setting info here and here. Gee is an original character set in this world. The Fae, also called the Gentry or simply Them, are real and they live in a world called Arcadia. Each True Fae lives in their own realm, which is shaped by their will. Some suspect these realms are an extension of the Fae themselves. To get to our world, they travel through the Hedge, a barrier separating Arcadia from Earth. No one really knows why, but the Gentry like to capture humans to bring them back to Arcadia as servants, as prey, as pets. They become Keepers, and they are wondrous and terrible.

Gee doesn't remember a lot of things. Like his name. He thinks it might have been George--but then, it could have been Gerard or Garrett or Gregory. He thinks it was George, though. Like with the dragon. The other thing he can't remember is exactly where - or when - he's from. Time in Arcadia - that's where he's been, by the way - time doesn't work the same as it does in the real world. In a way, it doesn't matter. He remembered enough of himself to escape his Keeper and to escape Arcadia, back through the Hedge and back into a world that was much changed from the one he barely, sort of, remembered.

How did he find himself in Arcadia? Well, that's the thing. He can't really remember that, either. One day he was in the real world; the next, he's in Arcadia. Maybe he stepped in the wrong faerie circle, followed the wrong path, went down the wrong alley. Unlike the other changelings he met, he doesn't know why his Keeper chose him. They just did. Snatched him away like all those fairy tales he never really believed.

He remembers the dark: being left there, feeling it close in around him until it felt safer than the light. But They would take him out and put him to work: Gee drew labyrinths for his Keeper. Some simple, like mazes for children. Others became incredibly complex, used for hunts and safety alike. Gee could envision twists and turns, could see the whole pattern and each path, and so this become his one and only purpose: create, create, create. And in between every labyrinth, it was back into the dark hole they kept him in until his Keeper needed him again.

Unlike some changelings, Gee's transformation was slow. He doesn't remember when his eyes got bigger, his hands more clever, his skin paler. They kept him in the dark for so long, the light felt like an enemy and like a long lost lover. Every time he left, he learned more of his surroundings. Even if the entire landscape could change at his Keeper's will, Gee had a will, too. He had been shaping and reshaping parts of his Keeper's world for time unending.

If he wanted a door, he would simply make one. And he would take as many other changelings through it as he could before sealing it again.

Once out of Arcadia, Gee had to find himself again. Unlike other changelings, he didn't have a fetch that was still alive - a copy of himself the Gentry left. He had no family to return to, no revenge to seek, no life to recover. He settled into a freehold outside of New York City, a place both maze-like and yet easy to navigate and learn. He felt himself drawn to the Autumn Court, who use fear and secrets as their weapons. To join, he shared a secret. To stay, he learned dozens more. His studies took him in and out of the Hedge and all over the country, skirting dangerously close to getting Their attention again. But he was ready this time. They had to play by this world's rules, and in this world, death was non-negotiable.

His life was fairly routine for a long time. Then Delaney and Sam showed up after fleeing San Francisco. Suspicions aroused, one of the Spring princes asked him to look after Delaney the darkling, whose heart had been taken by Sam and who acted as Sam's unwitting, maybe unwilling, servant. Gee knew what being used felt like and he knew the Spring prince was using him, but maybe for good. Besides... he kind of liked Delaney. He understood the dark the way Gee did. Getting closer became easy, and watching after Delaney wasn't hard when the darkling slept in his room all the time. Let the other courtiers try to figure out how to net Sam; Gee felt content until he realized how much the loss of his heart hurt Delaney. With the darkling's help, Gee found the stolen heart. Rather than taking it back, however, Delaney asked Gee to keep it. For safety. Gee was good at hiding important things.

When Sam realized Gee found and took back Delaney's heart, he came for Gee. When Gee would't relent, Sam trapped them both in the Hedge. It was Gee that ultimately trapped Sam, though: with wiles and fear and an ultimate lack of fear, held Sam so the Summer courtiers could catch him and take him off to be tried for his crimes.

Gee made it out in one piece. He still has Delaney's heart, since Delaney asked him to hang onto it, to keep it safe. He still makes labyrinths, though now they are mostly on paper: stacks of them in his room, drawn on the floor or walls.

Personality: Gee was clever before he went into Arcadia. It served him well in his durance: his intelligence and attention to detail allowed to see both the big picture and the small - the overall pattern of his mazes and each turn and dead end. This also meant identifying patterns in a place that defied rhyme or reason. It helped him to see the long game, to hold on to enough of himself to eventually escape. Though terrified out of his mind half the time, Gee played the game of good servant well enough that his Keeper suspected little before the escape - not from the quiet little labyrinth maker. While in Arcadia, he learned to manipulate his Keeper's realm and realized he could use this to escape: to make doors where there were none. Bending even a small part of Arcadia to his will takes considerable effort and force of knowing what he wanted - exactly what he wanted.

After time unknown in Arcadia, Gee is keen to never, ever go back. Though it isn't as bad as when he first got out of the Hedge, Gee's paranoia leads him to hide things of importance, to have multiple fail-safes in his own designs (ones that only he knows), and it makes him generally suspicious of things that seem too good. He doesn't trust most gifts and will usually put them somewhere safe to observe them for a while. This has led to rotten or stale food more than once. He's still haunted by what happened to him there, though he only remembers it in dreams. When he has the nightmares, he might spend the next few days awake, as long as he can manage, rather than risk going back there, even in his dreams. With this paranoia also comes a willingness to be ruthless if it means protecting his freedom.

Though most people might think hiding in shadows and using fear to fight is cowardly, Gee is willing to risk his life for those he cares about. Usually it's a calculated risk, but in the case of Delaney, there was no way to predict what might happen when Sam found out Gee was protecting his heart. When Sam yanked him into the Hedge, intent on doing something unspeakable, Gee fought back: not for his own sake, but for Delaney's and the rest of the freehold. If he could keep Sam distracted, he knew the others would find them. So he did, calling on every trick and contract, dodging the changeling-turned-Fae's malice and violence.

Gee isn't a warrior, by no means a knight in armor of any variety, but he has his own brand of bravery. He rescues and protects other changelings whenever he can: more than once he has risked the Hedge to help others out, or he's gotten in the way of the Gentry on their hunts outside of Arcadia. Gee wouldn't say he's brave, but he can't not help, either. And helping is always dangerous in his world. Gee's moral map is full of gray areas: he understands right and wrong, but he also feels the ends can absolutely justify the means. He's helped to interrogate and torture freehold captives and he's been known to risk the safety of others in pursuit of new knowledge. As long as they get what they need in the end, does it really matter? Especially if no one dies. Does it really count as bad if no one dies?

Beneath it all is a lost soul looking for love, and Gee has it to give in spades; he wants only to belong somewhere, to find a home that he will never see again. He can be very generous with his affection and it is always genuine: while Gee is willing to manipulate people with fear, he will never manipulate them with real desire. It means too much to him. When he fell for Delaney, Gee went out of his way to make his room comfortable for the darkling (mostly with candlelight) and he found little ways to try to make Delaney smile, even before he had his heart. Gee is willing to dip into the Hedge to find flowers or fruit that can't be found anywhere else. He likes learning about those he's close to so he can find things that give them comfort, whether it's an artifact from home that he's helped retrieve from a dream or revenge, Gee is unwavering in his dedication to the people that earn it.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: As a changeling, Gee has access to a lot of the same magic the Gentry use, though he can't always use it exactly the same way. It can be unreliable and often depends on his state of mind or degree of comfort with the magic he's trying to perform. The more familiar a contract or spell, the more likely it succeeds; the less familiar or more dangerous, the more risk of failure. An overview of his magic is here. For Deerington, his magic and control over contracts and their outcomes will fluctuate beyond his ability to predict. He can manipulate other people's dreams (settings, themes, etc), if he finds out he might be able to do that in his waking life at all, he might try.

Inventory:
+ a silver switchblade
+ a sketchbook and pencils
+ one complete outfit (shoes, socks, jeans, underwear, t-shirt, hoodie)
+ a magpie
+ a backpack containing a book from his personal library, his phone and wallet, a jar of dirt, a box of girl scout cookies, and an ash stick
+ a map of New York City

Writing Samples: Log & Network

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: K
Player Age: 25+
Player Contact: givemedragons or PM

Other Characters In Game: n/a
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Gee: K
Permissions for Character: here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yes

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Uncertainty of identity/past, imperative puzzles/tasks, monsters, unreality, paranoia, creeping dread
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: insects
Additional Information: HMD; Opt-out/Magic