Grey, Derek Allen

[madderhatter]

DEREK ALLEN GRAY

FULL NAME: Derek Allen Gray
NICK NAME: Crazyface, Earl Gray, whatever else Alice thinks of
AGE: 41
GRADE OR OCCUPATION: Police Officer
ORIENTATION: Straight

FACE CLAIM: Daniel Craig
EYE COLOR: Blue
HAIR COLOR: Blonde, with perhaps some gray
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT: 5'11", 190 lbs.
DESCRIPTION: Cutting a pretty impressive figure doesn't require massive muscles or being ridiculously tall, and Derek can speak to that. He's 5'11" with an athletic, strong build, but to just see him walking around, he looks more wiry and lean than truly muscular. To see him shirtless or naked would change your mind, but given some of his...quirks, that doesn't happen much. That, or to fight with him and see what that athletic build can do to him, which is not recommended. He's strong and fit, and the crazy seems to add to his abilities. That, and he's a tricky bastard.

He keeps his blonde hair cropped short, which means that it's relatively neat no matter what (even 'bed head' when it's that short looks stylish, not sloppy), and his light blue eyes are sharp even when he's at his craziest; he's never stupid, just sometimes unbalanced and unpredictable. Watching his eyes, facial expressions and body language is incredibly important in figuring out exactly where his mind is at and whose personality he's displaying most strongly. He's more expressive and his gestures are wider and more pronounced, as is his energy level, when the Hatter is pushing hardest inside of his skull. Derek on his own is more calculated and steady, and much more subtle.

As is fitting for an officer of the law, Derek sticks to a very normal, very casual wardrobe most of the time. He had dress blues for special occasions and business casual for when it's necessary, but his rank doesn't require the patrolman's uniform every day. He prefers that, though the dark blues definitely suit his preferences. He likes darker colors, perhaps with a lighter shirt here and there, but bright colors just aren't his thing. He has very few clothes that are outside of the dark, cool or neutrals in color, and most of what he owns was picked for practicality and comfort. He's a low maintenance kind of guy.

The Hatter has tried to change that some, and he's succeeded just a little. Thanks to that crazy little bastard, he owns a few hats and coats, including a trench coat that they mutually agree is acceptable, but Derek has been putting his foot down about more vibrant colors and styles. The Hatter would have him in eye liner, top hats and fancy coats, starting parties and getting everyone riled up if he could, and the spirit has managed those kind of situations on occasion. Sometimes he gets away from Derek a little, and it always lands the poor police officer with a hangover and lots of questions the next morning.
PERSONALITY: To understand this man, one must really examine two men, since there really are two of them inside his skull and the weather in there isn't always sunny and nice. Derek and the Mad Hatter are like two different colors of wax that were once separated by a solid, clear line and have since had the heat rise enough that they've melted into each other, swirling together until there are no clear lines and the colors aren't entirely what they started out as. Derek is irrevocably changed, but so the Hatter seems to be, as well.

Derek gets the honor of being the primary personality, considering it's his body. Seems fair, right? He's dependable, level-headed and usually very logical. He thinks things through and acts with confidence and fire because he believes in what he's doing. If he didn't, he wouldn't do it. He's a man of action, one that would rather take risks than sit back and let something happen while he's trying to make up his mind, but don't let that fool you into thinking he's impulsive and rash. He might not wait around and see, but he'll still evaluate a situation before getting involved. He's just quick about it, and with the kind of perception he's capable of, he doesn't miss much. Considering his job with the police, that's neither surprising or a bad thing. Attentive to detail and sharp-minded, he's not bad at all at reading people. Since survival as a cop can sometimes depend on whether he has accurate information and knows everything about the situation he's in, these are the traits that have gotten him to where he is on the force now. All in all, he's a good cop.

He also has a strong set of morals, which includes upholding the law and being a responsible adult and role model. He's protective of others, even if he doesn't know them well, and he's good at walking into situations and owning them. He can diffuse or take control with a surprising level of efficiency, and all in all, that is what he's about: efficiency. He knows how to be dangerous, how to complete a job, and how to get results.

The Hatter is Derek's opposite in most ways. Where Derek is law, the Hatter is chaos. The spirit meets Derek's rationale with insanity and nonsense, his rules with exceptions and his control with mass confusion. The Hatter is gasoline on the fire, and the spirit enjoys it. For all of that, he's not an evil influence in the least, which is Derek's saving grace. The Hatter is a neutral party, one that is literally there FOR the party, and for all of Derek's cool, fluid calm, the Mad Hatter brings fire and passion. He's a trickster and a showman, all in it for the laughs, thrills and good times, and when Derek tries, he can push that passion towards his own ends. How?

The Hatter being so neutral means that Derek isn't fighting against the spirit's nature on moral issues (except drugs, drinking, sex, bad fashion choices and make-up, ugh), so his overall goodness drives both personalities in that direction. The Hatter, not caring one way or the other, goes with the flow. Being able to point the spirit in a specific direction is sometimes all Derek can do, and so he will.

Back to the wax analogy, it has to be stressed that while there are definitely two different voices, two different sets of ideas and two different personalities in that brain of his, the lines have blurred enough that they're turning into one. Derek is losing more of himself to the Hatter than the Hatter is losing, but he's also adapting. Much of the Hatter's chaos and insanity is purely for the sake of fun and excitement, but Derek brings violence and aggression to the recipe. The insanity that is eating away at his calm is making him unpredictable (which, with as quick as his mind is, may not be a good thing) and potentially dangerous, especially because there is skill and intelligence behind everything he does. Part of the problem is also that it's so difficult to tell whose influence is more prevalent at the moment, since the closer to his former personality Derek is, the better off people around him are. The more chaos that is running through his mind, the less likely anyone is to see what's coming.

And the Hatter will act just for the reaction.

HOMETOWN: Sussex, New Jersey
FAMILY MEMBERS:
His father, Allen Daniel Grey
His mother, Margaret Ann Grey
His older brother, Nathaniel Joseph Grey
His older brother, Anthony Daniel Grey
His younger sister, Cynthia Lynn Grey
HISTORY: Derek, like most kids his age, spent his childhood skinning his knees, playing hard and turning his mother's hair gray with the help of his two older brothers and younger sister. Their family was struggling financially, just like so many others in their area, so Derek never really had any reason to consider 'higher education'. His father worked a factory job and his mother was a waitress, so between factories and restaurants, he saw his future there from the time he was old enough to understand.

A letter disrupted the path that his life seemed certain to take, full of details about him that even his parents didn't know (and he wasn't willing to admit to, in some cases) and scaring his somewhat superstitious mother. He was host to a spirit? His father thought it was bullshit, but at his mother's urging, contacted the school to see if it was at all legitimate. Whether he believed the information in the letter or not, he couldn't deny that the schooling being offered was much more than they could ever afford for their son, and so they didn't have to talk all that long before sending Derek off to 'make something of himself' in Memory, Maine.

Like all of the kids who go to the high school there, Derek tried unlocking whatever spirit it was inside of him. He didn't know who it could be (and was a little too close to the situation when more subtle things would happen), but he was interested and gave it a shot. It was only when one of his teachers explained who they thought he was host to that he started to worry, and why shouldn't he? The spirit wasn't called the 'Mad Hatter' for no reason, and Derek most certainly was NOT the 'crazy' sort. He was solid, dependable and honest, exactly the opposite of what the Hatter represented. He didn't want to unlock that within himself. The problem was, he'd already gotten far enough along that just stopping the tide wasn't very likely.

Even so, he blocked everything that he possibly could out. All of the things he learned to unlock the spirit and wake it up were put into reverse, trying to discourage it and send it back to wherever it came from. For a long while there, he succeeded, and a charming smile or quiet word seemed to keep his teachers thinking that he was honestly just at a loss as he finished high school and continued through college in Memory, and then joined the police force immediately after graduating at 22 years of age. It was interesting, physical and still required intelligence, all of which appealed to him, so it appeared to be the perfect line of work for such a strong, upstanding member of the town's youth, especially since he couldn't leave without releasing the Mad Hatter.

Yes, the Hatter was still locked up and it looked like he'd be able to get on with his adult life without waking the crazy little bastard up, which was just fine with him. Then, one day in his 23rd year, something happened. Honestly, Derek didn't even know what it was, but he woke up in a cold sweat in the early hours of the morning with his head spinning, some ridiculous song about unbirthdays ringing through his head and eventually escaping his lips in a murmured verse or two, and a craving for a cup of tea. He didn't even like tea or have any in the house, so he settled for a glass of milk and finally a jog around the block to try to kill the restless energy inside of him, and went back to sleep. The next day was no more normal than the night before had been, starting from the time he walked into work humming that same song from the early hours of that morning that he didn't remember hearing anywhere else and continuing throughout the day when nonsensical thoughts entered his mind and sometimes escaped his lips without his permission, drawing strange looks from his co-workers that eventually started becoming knowing looks.

Everyone realized before he did that his spirit was finally waking up, and that it was pushing through with a freakin' BANG. Literally, actually. He got through most of the day just puling pens, mugs of tea and whatever else came to mind out of his pockets, desk drawers (because every cop has a pot of hot tea in his desk drawer, right?) and out from behind his co-workers' ears and collars. For the most part, they found it curious and at times entertaining or even a little annoying, but there was no danger in it.

Until Tea Time. The Hatter made his true, grand debut at around 2pm, and Derek doesn't remember the incident, nor does he want to. All he knows was that he apparently shoved all of the desks in the police station together like one long table and then started pulling tea pots, cups and pretty much any other tea time snacks out of nowhere for all of his shocked co-workers. Apparently, he was insisting they celebrate 'her' very, merry unbirthday the entire time. It took four cops to subdue him and get him locked up, only to have him pull a key for the door out of his pocket and walk back out like nothing happened. He hasn't been the same since.

It was Alice's first 'unbirthday', the day after she was born.

Derek did finally wrestle control back from the Hatter, and he somehow charmed his way back onto the force from the forced leave of absence he took, and without a psychological evaluation, at that. Nobody really knows why everyone is allowed to know that he has a spirit inside of him and influencing his actions that is totally bonkers and he's allowed to remain a cop, but the fact that he puts so very much into maintaining his composure and being the most stable he can be probably helps. He even managed to climb up the ranks after that, furthering his career almost as though nothing insane had ever happened (though anyone who was there will never, ever forget it), all the while struggling against the voice in his head spouting nonsense and trying to push through.

Over the years, the two of them have fought so viciously for control, Derek always denying the Hatter even the slightest bit of influence for as long as he possibly could, that the Mad Hatter has essentially (and likely accidentally) changed tactics. He's been literally driving Derek mad ever since he woke up inside the young man's head, fraying the formerly dependable, sane mind inside the head they shared, and Derek eventually started losing some of the battles for control. Fortunately, the Hatter doesn't tend to require complete charge of his host's body, just a little consideration for his preferences, to the point that Derek almost seems to be a bit schitzophrenic at times. His job ignores it if they hear him talking to himself, or someone slaps him on the back to snap him out of it.

The Hatter started getting more vocal and excitable about four years ago, and for no apparent reason. He just did, and when does someone as looney as that need a reason? The worst part is that he's tugging more at the loose strings in Derek's mind, blurring some of the colors, and this is exactly what the man was afraid of when he was still in school.

Finally, he met Alice, and it was like tuning into a station without static for the first time in 18 years when he saw her and heard her speak. He didn't have to consciously realize why because the Hatter that had melded himself right into Derek's mental processes and personality simply knew it was her, and he's been a bit obsessed ever since. He shows up unexpectedly and likes to just hang around, which would have been weird if it was someone else. Actually, it's still weird. He's charming and somehow gets away with things he shouldn't, but that doesn't make it less weird for poor Alice. Fortunately, she's a pretty cool kid.

DISNEY CHARACTER: Mad Hatter
ABILITIES/ATTRIBUTES: As a result of the Mad Hatter's spirit having taken up shop in his body, Derek is something of a natural 'magician', and he usually does it without even thinking about it. He pulls things out of nowhere, whatever he 'needs' no matter how ridiculous or practical, and 'nowhere' can be his pockets, from behind his back, out of his sleeves, from behind someone's ear or color, out of holes, hats or pretty much any hidden little space. He's been rumored to make things disappear in much the same manner, and where those things go to, nobody really knows, including him.
DESCRIPTION: Oh, the Hatter is awake, much to Derek's horror and detriment. He's totally mad, and is happily dragging Derek in with him. Derek uses his saner, more aware moments to retaliate, usually by drinking coffee instead of tea (this upsets his character greatly), refusing to wear any kind of hat, regardless of the weather, and being as calm, collected and gentlemanly as he can be. The Hatter in turn does the exact opposite, almost like it's a game to him, pushing Derek to the other end of the spectrum. They don't get along in the least, but the animosity is really on Derek's side for the most part.

What may be the most frustrating is that the Mad Hatter really doesn't have much in the way of motivation. There's no end goal for him, nothing that really drives him, though he really can't stand the Queen of Hearts (or whatever poor fool got stuck with her) and he is just tickled by the idea of Alice. He remembers her spirit, and besides just wanting to have loads of parties and fun with her, the Hatter seems to understand that it's Alice that will undo the Queen of Hearts. He wasn't all that helpful the first time around, but he also didn't have Derek's input there. Between the Hatter's interest in Alice and Derek's fire, they might actually turn into a true ally for her.

YOUR NAME: Stark
YOUR AGE: 24
YOUR RP EXPERIENCE: Since I was 11, so...13 years?
YOUR SAMPLE:

Well, it looked like it didn't matter who made out on this one, Eames' employers were going to be short cash. Since the forger planned on scamming them for the money before he disappeared and the 'street punk' had just managed to perform a very impressive snatch and grab that involved zipping past at a surprisingly high speed on a skateboard, slipping deft fingers into Eames' space to snatch the large orange envelope of cash and then continue on his speedy way before the forger had time to react. The interesting part was that Eames was shockingly quick on his feet; he didn't look that fast in those baggy, bulky clothes and he certainly never moved like he had any fitness whatsoever to him. Arthur, in the guise of the street punk in question, knew about Eames' background, but more former military men fell into hefty disrepair than those that stayed in shape, so there had been a question there. Oh well, question answered.

Another issue in Eames' favor was that he knew these streets better than Arthur did. The point man spent time in Seoul doing research, a large amount of it on the streets, but this neighborhood wasn't one that he was the most familiar with. He took a wrong turn, twisted the skateboard to a stop, and cursed violently under his breath as he heard Eames' footfalls behind him. Cornered. Damn it!

No, Arthur couldn't scale the brick walls like Spiderman, which meant that his only escape was through Eames. How unfortunate for the forger, especially since he didn't have any idea just what he'd cornered. If he was expecting a rat, he'd gotten something more like a jackal.

The 'street punk' kept his back to the forger, letting the fall of his hair keep the forger from recognizing his profile as he glanced through it to watch Eames approach. He was going to have to move quickly to make his escape before the forger realized who he was; he had the element of surprise and Eames' underestimation of his abilities on his side, as was obvious by the way the forger was approaching with his hands in his pockets and that slow, almost leisurely approach. Arthur had to give him credit for the fact that he didn't seem to have been very bothered by chasing a kid on a skateboard all that way through the streets, but in the same token, Arthur wasn't breathing hard at all from the high-speed skateboarding through roads, onto sidewalks and over obstacles that could have taken him down and made Eames' job ridiculously easy. Now, it was time to ditch the wheels.

"Okay," he said simply, not willing to carry on a conversation and reveal himself when a single word could put the forger off-balance without giving the man enough to recognize. The easy agreement might not make Eames think he was going to give up, but it would have to put him off-balance after having chased someone down for the money. Arthur even held the envelope in his right hand out to the side, raising his empty hand at his other side right along with it to show that he was unarmed. His weight was mostly on his right foot with his left resting against the skateboard since he'd stopped. As far as Eames knew, Arthur was right-handed, and that was intentional on Arthur's part. He was actually ambidextrous, but it was more than convenient to have anyone who might know him dismiss a street kid on account of the kid being a lefty. This was no different, and Eames was even more prone to falling for the trick, since he was so observant. IF he thought he recognized something, seeing the dominance in the left side would throw him off.

This kind of thinking was why Dom Cobb had initially employed Arthur as his point man.

Of course, it wasn't just THINKING that Cobb liked about Arthur, as the man was about to prove when Eames made his slow approach for the money that the street punk was so kindly willing to give up. He waited until he could hear the forger breathing before giving the skateboard a kick that pitched it straight up to his left hand, yanked the envelope in against his body and swung around to his left with the skateboard as a pretty nasty weapon. Ever get hit by those wheels? It hurt, as Eames was likely to be figuring out, but Arthur wasn't waiting around to see how he handled it. As soon as he had space, he was ducking past and taking off as quickly as possible.

[MONSIEUR DISNEY]

This app is perfection! Derek is extremely well thought out and detailed - you know every inch of your character and your writing is amazing. Welcome to Memory, Maine! And don't forget to fill out the rest of the forms in STEP TWO!