Edward Deegan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
undisguised) wrote2022-08-14 08:56 pm
undisguised) wrote2022-08-14 08:56 pm
thelastvoyages // application 2.0
User Name/Nick: mala
User DW:casinolights
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
Malathyne // Malathyne#3688
Other Characters Currently In-Game: —
Character Name: Edward Deegan
Series: Fallout 4
Age: 210+. We don't know how old Edward was when the bombs dropped, but he worked for the Cabots for 19 years before then, and he came to them "highly recommended," so he was not only an adult, but had enough time to build up a good reputation. I headcanon that he was in his late 40s by the time of the Great War (shortly after which he became a ghoul, which are effectively age immortal; see history links), which would put him at almost 260.
From When?: After the good end of The Secrets of Cabot House: Lorenzo defeated, Jack traveling the Commonwealth with Edward at his side (and before the player character reaches the end of the main quest)
Warden Justification:
The most obvious traits that make Edward warden material are that 1.) he has his shit together and 2.) he is a dog with a bone when his mind is set on seeing something through.
1.) The part of this that's easy to see is his demeanor. The face Edward presents most often is one that is steadily confident, very capable, and focused on getting things done (with a hint of dry humor in there). He is able to project an aura of being the kind of person you don't want to push, despite a lack of aggression. Instead, he maintains professional boundaries with a hand that is firm and impersonal, without being stuffy or unfriendly. There is an impression that while he isn't someone to cross, it's difficult to push him that far, as he rebuffs hostility with that professional persona. He isn't prone to taking threats, posturing, or insults to heart, and is willing to set past grievances aside in favor of moving forward. When other characters in Fallout 4 talk about him, there is only a reputation of the most steadfast of workers: loyal, reliable, perceptive, resourceful.
The part of this that's less obvious comes down to the fact that Edward has been alive for a long time — more importantly, he's had to live with himself for a long time. He knows what it's like to live with loss and regret, what it's like to seek stability and purpose, to be afraid of losing what you have. He has plenty of experience in handling his temper and doubts in the face of difficulty. This is really where he has his shit together. It's inevitable that his understanding of himself will shift and adapt during his time on the Barge, which will be strange and unsettling to him since he's been living in the Cabots' little bubble for so long, meaning his identity hasn't really been challenged in a long time — But he'll be able to weather it without tumultuation or misbehavior. His inherent personality will continue to lend itself to providing stability and consistency for those who need it.
2.) Edward's identity is centered on being, first and utmost, a professional. And that means he takes his work very seriously. When a task is set before him, he is determined to see it through.
In canon, when the atomic bombs fell, his boss' priority was the asylum he ran, making sure that it maintained power and would continue to maintain power and supplies throughout the apocalypse. Edward not only already had plans in place for the expected end of the world, but he traveled out into the irradiated ruins to secure supplies and manpower despite the danger, and managed a stockpile of spare parts for at least fifty years in the process. It didn't matter that he had his doubts about his boss' true motivations for keeping the asylum running, the story about said boss' crazy and powerful alien-artifact-infected father being held in containment in the basement until he could be cured, the whole alien thing to begin with — He got the job done, putting his life and well-being on the line to do so. And then he continue to handle keeping up the security and supplies of the asylum for the next two hundred years and change, keeping up to date on possible hires in the area and being so prepared that he keeps a mini-nuke launcher in his room for when he has to go chase deathclaws ("seven foot tall irradiated lizards," game quote) off the property. (A headcanon explanation for the mini-nukes, sure, but the most plausible one.)
So, Edward doesn't fuck around when it comes to getting work done. Combine that with his loyalty — working for the same family for around 230 years says enough by itself, even ignoring the multiple comments on his loyalty from other characters — and, once paired with an inmate, he will be utterly dedicated to them. Not just their graduation, but their safety and emotional well-being, too. He is inherently a caretaker, and takes pride in being able to provide for people he cares about.
Item: A Pip-Boy 2000
Abilities/Powers:
Mostly, Edward is a normal human, with skills in a wide variety of things, from household repair work to negotiation to armed combat, and a definite step up in the physical area because he's Big and Buff... but none of that exceeds human ability. Being a ghoul (see history links) has its benefits, however — He won't die of old age, doesn't suffer negative effects from gamma radiation (and is even healed by it, sometimes in extreme ways), boasts an immunity to most diseases that affect humans as well as a resistance to some drugs... In some cases, ghouls have been able to survive without food, water, or air for a very long time, and by association, it isn't a stretch to assume they can probably go longer than a human without sleep.
But being a ghoul also comes with its own issues — For one thing, if his body isn't taken care of, he could suffer from further physical degredation, including things like "losing more skin," "limbs randomly falling off" (even if they could then be sewn back on and apparently still work; Patchwork), and "face melting." But more importantly, there's a chance of mentally degrading until he's "feral," which would involve losing his sense of self and growing hostile to everything besides other ghouls. (What causes a ghoul to go feral is not well-known in canon or in meta, though.)
Wardening Strategies and Philosophies:
Considering who he's worked for and their situation, combined with surviving the apocalypse, coming out the other side of radiation sickness looking like a zombie, and then living for two hundred years... Edward is great at rolling with the punches, even the weird ones. Strange happenings is just part of life in Fallout, to boot. After introducing Fallout 4's player character to Jack Cabot, Edward tells them, "That's part of the job, by the way. It's best to keep an open mind." And... That's pretty much the approach he's going to take to the Barge, too. He has his limits, like anyone else, but he'll handle them being pushed or broached the same way he'd deal with it back home — with as much self-control as possible, and one step at a time.
As mentioned before, his view on his role as a warden is simply that it is his job, and he will respond accordingly, equally as simply in principle (that "hard work and dogged determination" thing). He will admittedly be more suited to providing guidance and assisting in finding direction for inmates who don't know how to move forward, but want to, than convincing a resistant Inmate to change their ways — He doesn't have a lot of experience in changing someone else's world views, let alone someone who doesn't see a reason for changing them. Sitting down with his inmate and figuring out what their personal goals are, where they are now versus where they want to be, and how to get them to that point? Sure. He can work with that. Handling an especially violent and delusional inmate, dead set on their beliefs...? He wouldn't know where to start. He would try, and seek the support of other wardens in the process, but he wouldn't really be well-suited to such cases.
Also, he will be prone towards maintaining that professional barrier to begin with. This will make him good for the inmates who need structure and a certain amount of distance, but it also means he will need to do some work on himself in order to provide for an inmate who needs a more personal, emotional approach. Edward is a private person by nature, not because he is secretive or because he has trust issues, but because part of his identity is centered on being the one who shoulders burdens and solves problems. In order for him to lean on someone else, to open up and be vulnerable to them, he tends to prefer other responsible sorts who aren't likely to take on his troubles as their own. And since he'll feel responsible for his inmate, it will be difficult for him to step past his self-imposed professionalism. But if the need is noticed and/or communicated, Edward would make the conscious effort to do that for them.
Deal:
Even after being told he took the job once before, Edward isn't going to trust the idea of a miracle as payment. It might come with a catch, or it might have unforeseen consequences, or, if it's made on the behalf of someone else, it might not be something they actually want. He wants to investigate first, especially since he knows his boss Jack Cabot does have an impossibility that he'd take a deal for, regardless of the risks. He wants to make sure that, if Jack is offered a deal, he won't get screwed by it or taken advantage of.
But unlike last time, where he made his deal for the simple pragmatism of supplies and safe passage for a cross-country trip, this time his initial deal will be for the guards who died during the raid on Parson's to be brought back to life. (And with some false memories that will help explain it to them, to avoid a situation where they come to the conclusion that they're synth replacements or something, because it's #theCommonwealth.) This is still a test — Edward does feel responsible for the people he hired, but if the deal is fake or goes hinky, then nothing will be lost that hadn't already been lost.
Ultimately, though, once Edward is in-game and more personally invested in the idea of saving inmates' lives, he's going to decide to change his deal to be something for an inmate (probably his own). Just like last time, he'll come to the conclusion that they need it more than he does. He knows that, all things considered, he has a pretty good life and is fortunate to not really want for much. And since he doesn't want to make a deal for the Cabots without their go-ahead, he will aim to help the people in need that are right in front of him, that he has the power to help.
History: Edward Deegan at the Fallout wiki
While this is a general overview of the character, it doesn't really include context for anything, so here's some further reading if necessary:
The game: Fallout 4
The setting: The Commonwealth, Timeline and history notes
Other important information: Ghouls, the Cabots, the Cabot questline (part 1 | part 2 | part 3)
Sample Network Entry:
And a ghoul meme for the road:
User DW:
casinolightsE-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:
Other Characters Currently In-Game: —
Character Name: Edward Deegan
Series: Fallout 4
Age: 210+. We don't know how old Edward was when the bombs dropped, but he worked for the Cabots for 19 years before then, and he came to them "highly recommended," so he was not only an adult, but had enough time to build up a good reputation. I headcanon that he was in his late 40s by the time of the Great War (shortly after which he became a ghoul, which are effectively age immortal; see history links), which would put him at almost 260.
From When?: After the good end of The Secrets of Cabot House: Lorenzo defeated, Jack traveling the Commonwealth with Edward at his side (and before the player character reaches the end of the main quest)
Warden Justification:
The most obvious traits that make Edward warden material are that 1.) he has his shit together and 2.) he is a dog with a bone when his mind is set on seeing something through.
1.) The part of this that's easy to see is his demeanor. The face Edward presents most often is one that is steadily confident, very capable, and focused on getting things done (with a hint of dry humor in there). He is able to project an aura of being the kind of person you don't want to push, despite a lack of aggression. Instead, he maintains professional boundaries with a hand that is firm and impersonal, without being stuffy or unfriendly. There is an impression that while he isn't someone to cross, it's difficult to push him that far, as he rebuffs hostility with that professional persona. He isn't prone to taking threats, posturing, or insults to heart, and is willing to set past grievances aside in favor of moving forward. When other characters in Fallout 4 talk about him, there is only a reputation of the most steadfast of workers: loyal, reliable, perceptive, resourceful.
The part of this that's less obvious comes down to the fact that Edward has been alive for a long time — more importantly, he's had to live with himself for a long time. He knows what it's like to live with loss and regret, what it's like to seek stability and purpose, to be afraid of losing what you have. He has plenty of experience in handling his temper and doubts in the face of difficulty. This is really where he has his shit together. It's inevitable that his understanding of himself will shift and adapt during his time on the Barge, which will be strange and unsettling to him since he's been living in the Cabots' little bubble for so long, meaning his identity hasn't really been challenged in a long time — But he'll be able to weather it without tumultuation or misbehavior. His inherent personality will continue to lend itself to providing stability and consistency for those who need it.
2.) Edward's identity is centered on being, first and utmost, a professional. And that means he takes his work very seriously. When a task is set before him, he is determined to see it through.
In canon, when the atomic bombs fell, his boss' priority was the asylum he ran, making sure that it maintained power and would continue to maintain power and supplies throughout the apocalypse. Edward not only already had plans in place for the expected end of the world, but he traveled out into the irradiated ruins to secure supplies and manpower despite the danger, and managed a stockpile of spare parts for at least fifty years in the process. It didn't matter that he had his doubts about his boss' true motivations for keeping the asylum running, the story about said boss' crazy and powerful alien-artifact-infected father being held in containment in the basement until he could be cured, the whole alien thing to begin with — He got the job done, putting his life and well-being on the line to do so. And then he continue to handle keeping up the security and supplies of the asylum for the next two hundred years and change, keeping up to date on possible hires in the area and being so prepared that he keeps a mini-nuke launcher in his room for when he has to go chase deathclaws ("seven foot tall irradiated lizards," game quote) off the property. (A headcanon explanation for the mini-nukes, sure, but the most plausible one.)
So, Edward doesn't fuck around when it comes to getting work done. Combine that with his loyalty — working for the same family for around 230 years says enough by itself, even ignoring the multiple comments on his loyalty from other characters — and, once paired with an inmate, he will be utterly dedicated to them. Not just their graduation, but their safety and emotional well-being, too. He is inherently a caretaker, and takes pride in being able to provide for people he cares about.
Item: A Pip-Boy 2000
Abilities/Powers:
Mostly, Edward is a normal human, with skills in a wide variety of things, from household repair work to negotiation to armed combat, and a definite step up in the physical area because he's Big and Buff... but none of that exceeds human ability. Being a ghoul (see history links) has its benefits, however — He won't die of old age, doesn't suffer negative effects from gamma radiation (and is even healed by it, sometimes in extreme ways), boasts an immunity to most diseases that affect humans as well as a resistance to some drugs... In some cases, ghouls have been able to survive without food, water, or air for a very long time, and by association, it isn't a stretch to assume they can probably go longer than a human without sleep.
But being a ghoul also comes with its own issues — For one thing, if his body isn't taken care of, he could suffer from further physical degredation, including things like "losing more skin," "limbs randomly falling off" (even if they could then be sewn back on and apparently still work; Patchwork), and "face melting." But more importantly, there's a chance of mentally degrading until he's "feral," which would involve losing his sense of self and growing hostile to everything besides other ghouls. (What causes a ghoul to go feral is not well-known in canon or in meta, though.)
Wardening Strategies and Philosophies:
Considering who he's worked for and their situation, combined with surviving the apocalypse, coming out the other side of radiation sickness looking like a zombie, and then living for two hundred years... Edward is great at rolling with the punches, even the weird ones. Strange happenings is just part of life in Fallout, to boot. After introducing Fallout 4's player character to Jack Cabot, Edward tells them, "That's part of the job, by the way. It's best to keep an open mind." And... That's pretty much the approach he's going to take to the Barge, too. He has his limits, like anyone else, but he'll handle them being pushed or broached the same way he'd deal with it back home — with as much self-control as possible, and one step at a time.
As mentioned before, his view on his role as a warden is simply that it is his job, and he will respond accordingly, equally as simply in principle (that "hard work and dogged determination" thing). He will admittedly be more suited to providing guidance and assisting in finding direction for inmates who don't know how to move forward, but want to, than convincing a resistant Inmate to change their ways — He doesn't have a lot of experience in changing someone else's world views, let alone someone who doesn't see a reason for changing them. Sitting down with his inmate and figuring out what their personal goals are, where they are now versus where they want to be, and how to get them to that point? Sure. He can work with that. Handling an especially violent and delusional inmate, dead set on their beliefs...? He wouldn't know where to start. He would try, and seek the support of other wardens in the process, but he wouldn't really be well-suited to such cases.
Also, he will be prone towards maintaining that professional barrier to begin with. This will make him good for the inmates who need structure and a certain amount of distance, but it also means he will need to do some work on himself in order to provide for an inmate who needs a more personal, emotional approach. Edward is a private person by nature, not because he is secretive or because he has trust issues, but because part of his identity is centered on being the one who shoulders burdens and solves problems. In order for him to lean on someone else, to open up and be vulnerable to them, he tends to prefer other responsible sorts who aren't likely to take on his troubles as their own. And since he'll feel responsible for his inmate, it will be difficult for him to step past his self-imposed professionalism. But if the need is noticed and/or communicated, Edward would make the conscious effort to do that for them.
Deal:
Even after being told he took the job once before, Edward isn't going to trust the idea of a miracle as payment. It might come with a catch, or it might have unforeseen consequences, or, if it's made on the behalf of someone else, it might not be something they actually want. He wants to investigate first, especially since he knows his boss Jack Cabot does have an impossibility that he'd take a deal for, regardless of the risks. He wants to make sure that, if Jack is offered a deal, he won't get screwed by it or taken advantage of.
But unlike last time, where he made his deal for the simple pragmatism of supplies and safe passage for a cross-country trip, this time his initial deal will be for the guards who died during the raid on Parson's to be brought back to life. (And with some false memories that will help explain it to them, to avoid a situation where they come to the conclusion that they're synth replacements or something, because it's #theCommonwealth.) This is still a test — Edward does feel responsible for the people he hired, but if the deal is fake or goes hinky, then nothing will be lost that hadn't already been lost.
Ultimately, though, once Edward is in-game and more personally invested in the idea of saving inmates' lives, he's going to decide to change his deal to be something for an inmate (probably his own). Just like last time, he'll come to the conclusion that they need it more than he does. He knows that, all things considered, he has a pretty good life and is fortunate to not really want for much. And since he doesn't want to make a deal for the Cabots without their go-ahead, he will aim to help the people in need that are right in front of him, that he has the power to help.
History: Edward Deegan at the Fallout wiki
While this is a general overview of the character, it doesn't really include context for anything, so here's some further reading if necessary:
The game: Fallout 4
The setting: The Commonwealth, Timeline and history notes
Other important information: Ghouls, the Cabots, the Cabot questline (part 1 | part 2 | part 3)
Sample Network Entry:
Good afternoon. My name is Edward Deegan. I'll be serving as a warden here starting today.Sample RP:
[On screen is the face of a man who seems to have lost all of his skin. He's missing a nose, his eyes are so bloodshot the sclera are dark, and his voice comes in a deep rasp. He's wearing a drab brown newsboy cap over his bald head.]
First... According to the Admiral, this isn't my first time on board. Have to admit, I had my doubts. But now that I'm here... [He frowns.] I guess you'd call this déja vu. [A beat.] In case you can't tell, I don't remember anything about it. But I am... curious, now. So, if you happen to recognize me, I'd appreciate it if you'd reach out.
Next up, addressing the brahmin in the room. Namely, that I look like I walked out of a horror movie. [His voice remains dry, to the point that it's hard to tell he was joking until he keeps talking and his tone evens out again.] No, I'm not a zombie. And, no, it isn't contagious. You're not gonna catch it from me.
Back where I'm from, people like me are called "ghouls." Yeah, doesn't seem like it's better than being called a zombie, but it's what stuck. We're what you get when someone is too stubborn to die from radiation sickness. [This time, it's more obvious that he's joking.] So think of it as an injury, if it helps. Or a pre-existing condition.
It's clear I've arrived at an... interesting... time. Seems like a lot of you could use — or need — time to yourselves. I'm willing to pick up the slack in the meantime. If there's any particular position that needs filling, or if you want to ask me to take up your shifts, let me know. I'll do my best to make a schedule work. My resumé is... long. It's what happens when you've been around for a couple centuries. So just ask, and I'll let you know if it's something out of my wheelhouse.
Edward isn't a new face in the library, far from it, but today, he spent time browsing a different set of shelves than his typical. He sits at a table, alone save for a handful of books... and a bird perched on the table's edge. Her raptor beak is short and curved, her round, dark eyes ringed in yellow, her body's plumage snowy and white, her wings checked with brown arrows and tipped dark. A gyrfalcon. Edward had thought she was some kind of hawk, but she'd quickly and proudly corrected him.Special Notes: Because I use a retexture mod in my game, Edward's eye color in his icons isn't technically canon for him — In vanilla, his eyes are instead like this. But I've been using the retexture / these icons for so long that I prefer the look for him (better view linked in the journal sample, here), so I wanted to ask if it's okay if I said that's what his eyes are like in TLV. (That style of eyes are an option for ghouls in Fallout 4's canon, as Hancock's are very similar. The only real difference between the two is how dark the sclera gets.)
Yeah. Corrected him. Because the bird talks. Which really isn't the weird part in all this, because it's only the tip of the iceburg. No, the weird part is that the talking bird is a part of him. Or... an extension of him. An expression of him. "Dæmon" is the official term, something about part of his soul being made manifest outside of his body. In the shape of... a talking bird.
Sure. Why not? This isn't the weirdest or most stressful thing the Barge has thrown at Edward yet, and apparently not the first time this particular flood has happened, based on everyone else's reactions to it. But there's still something about it that makes him... restless.
Not that it's showing. Much. The bird remains still on the table, one eye peering at their surroundings and the other trained on him, but Edward's thumb is tapping the pages as he reads.
In falconry, while gyrfalcons are generally considered pretty personable to handle, they are challenging in one very particular regard: they refuse to let the falconer relieve them of their prey. In the wild, gyrfalcons avoid nesting in areas with a lot of ravens, golden eagles, and crows, because - generally speaking - these are the only animals which are capable of stealing a gyrfalcon’s kill, and willing to risk death or grievous bodily harm by trying. Gyrfalcons obsessively guard their game, because they pour so much effort into taking it in the first place.
He can't help but snort. He's never been much of an animal person, all told — Never wanted a pet as a kid, even if he took care of a few strays now and then when he got older. So to read about gyrfalcons, and be able to see himself in them, is just an odd feeling. "Personable" in captivity isn't the end of it, either. The book notes gyrfalcons as being affectionate in the nest, both with their mate and their offspring. How they'll accept surrogates to help look after their nest if their mate dies. The way they're easier to socialize with human handlers than other falcons, since they can recognize the humans as partners in the hunt.
But no matter what, they're unwilling to let go of what they've worked so hard to achieve. They go through great lengths to know their territory, to keep track of the populations of their prey, to time their nesting with the availability of good weather and ample food. All that effort for the sake of their survival, and the survival of their nest.
Edward glances up at the bird, and finds she's still watching him. The raptor doesn't have much in the way of recognizable facial expressions, but he swears he has the impression that she's raising an eyebrow at him in spirit. A very discerning, "told-you-so" eyebrow raise. Yeah, he's been skeptical about this whole thing. Though he'd argue it isn't skepticism as much as a healthy dose of withholding opinion without further information.
"I don't think you get to judge me," Edward comments dryly.
"If not me, who?" she replies archly, and he can't help but huff a laugh.
Yeah, okay. The talking bird's a part of him, alright.
And a ghoul meme for the road: