Name: Eugene Hicks Door: TDM Doorpass for submissive. Canon: OC Canon Point: July of 1945, during the occupation of Germany after the surrender. Age: 21 Appearance: Shane Taylor. Gene's 5'9, pretty weathered by the war, dark hair with some premature grey at the temples and eyes and that gaunt sharpness that comes from the tight rationing preceding and during the war. History: First, I'll give you a run-down on a world state just so the context makes sense c:
Gene's world is like ours in just about every way that counts. Historically speaking, everything has progressed as normal in Earth's past to the year of 1945. Pearl Harbor happened, the Allies won the War, America was gearing up to bomb Japan, etc.
The only discernible difference between his world and ours is the fact that he — and all the males of his family line going back to time immemorial — can see and interact with ghosts. He uses this ability to benefit his military company in the war, which earns them a reputation for being lucky as all get-out.
Now as for actual character history:
Gene was born in 1924 to loving parents (Jesse Hicks and Victoria Dunbar) and their +1, who was a fond fixture of his childhood he knew as 'Aunt Ysobel' (ayoooo polyamory) as the oldest son of what would eventually be four boys (Albert, John and Rob in next-oldest to youngest order.) His childhood was an idyllic one — endless hours spent playing with his brothers, learning the ways of the world from his Ma (a ww1 nurse) and his Pa (a lifelong miner). He was bright and adventurous and absolutely fearless, the sort of kid that could break an arm jumping off a bridge and be right back out there the next day to do it all again. He was the hero to his younger siblings in every respect, all of them adored him and tried to emulate him as much as possible.
Seeing ghosts was never treated as an aberration or something to fear so he never really learned to see it that way. It was just a skill he had, like being good at baseball. It gave him an innate curiosity about the world. As much time as he spent off in the wilds, he would spend just as much sitting at the feet of old ghosts learning their stories. Gene knew about the Civil War from apparitions of its soldiers. And, although ghosts are largely tied to the areas in which they died, the stronger ones can break away from this and travel. Gene (+his male relatives on the Hicks side) appear as a sort of light in the dark to those spirits and spirits are sort of... drawn to them, rather like moths to a flame. As a result of this, Gene spoke with dead the world over. Ancient Roman soldiers, Gauls, Picts, Vikings, Huns. Any culture that facilitated a belief in an afterlife was prone to ghosts, and he listened to anyone that came knocking on his proverbial door, which gave him an unusually broad command of a world-view for someone who grew up in a town of less than eight hundred people, all before he was ten years old.
His mother died when he was eleven and his father was injured in a mining accident shortly thereafter, which resulted in Gene leaving school to find work. Child labour laws of the time were... well, lax. Gene worked in an abattoir for several years at this time, though 'work' is sort of a loose definition. More like, he cleaned up the floors of a slaughter house for pennies and the occasional animal leavings that could be turned into sausage. His mother's ghost stayed around as well to make sure her boys were looked after, and her old flame Ysobel helped out as well on her meager teacher's salary. They had a few hard, lean years, but they survived, and by the time the nation was crawling out of its economic rut the Hicks' family was doing much the same.
At fifteen, Gene spent the summer in New York with Ysobel's brother doing an apprenticeship in carpentry. He didn't make any money doing this — it was hardship enough just to provide him room and board, but the skills were invaluable. It was here that he met Reggie Holiday, a boy who would become his lifelong friend. Reggie's family was British-Trinidadian, his father a doctor and his mother a Calypsonian (a singer/storyteller who writes songs about history/social commentary) and Reggie was the oldest child. He and Gene were fast friends, with Reggie regularly sneaking Gene into the Café Society club — at the time one of the only nightclubs that wasn't segregated. Reggie was charming and worldly, spoke a brace of languages and was basically the Coolest Person Gene had ever met, which lead to Gene following him around like a duckling.
In the early years of the war (1941) Reggie joined up with the British SOE and went overseas to help out with the war effort. Gene moved back to Alabama during this time, but the two continued to exchange letters (that Gene often had to get a younger sibling to write out for him, he's dyslexic and borderline illiterate) when possible. Reggie's writing became increasingly terse and stoic, and this change was one of the things that made Gene realize he needed to Go Help.
So. Pearl Harbor happened, America joined the war, Gene joined the paratroopers.
The Airborne was a new type of infantry unit, and their pay was just a little better than the standard. A child of the Depression, that money was everything. Gene joined up on his 18th birthday without telling his father or brothers of his plans, and off he went to Camp Claiborne. He was selected as a medic due to his steady, unflappable demeanor and he served in that capacity for the duration of the war.
He was in the fictional Love Company of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division, otherwise known as the 'All Americans' due to the wide-ranging pedigree of its paratroopers. They had people from Alaska to Hawaii to Michigan all grouped up into one motley little crew. His company served in many major battles in the war, beginning with Operation Husky in Italy, 1943 (Reggie died just prior to his drop, and Gene became aware of this due to the presence of Reggie's ghost) and ending with an honor guard in Germany after the War.
After Reggie's death and for the duration of the War, Reg' often served in a sort of 'canary in a coal mine' capacity for Gene. He essentially 'haunted' him, warned him of ambushes, enemy troop positions, passed along information that went to spy networks in the Maquisards and the Dutch Resistance and generally made life a lot easier for Love Company than most of the other companies in the War. This earned them a reputation for being 'Lucky Company' in flagrant disregard of the phonetic alphabet of the day.
Gene ends up being medi-evaced to France after the Battle of the Bulge, during which he got hit by a shellburst. This resulted in a pretty bad shrapnel injury to his left calf/ankle. Rather than give himself adequate time to heal, he AWOLs to get back to his boys three weeks later, which does irreparable damage to his ankle that later in life will necessitate the use of a cane. Every once in a while he still digs shrapnel out of the wound.
After the War, Gene remains in Germany during the occupation. Personality: His negative traits are pride, stubbornness, and being overbearing. His positive one I'll extrapolate on is non-judgmental.
Now, for the meat!
Gene has often remarked ICly that pride is his 'sin', so to speak. He is extremely confident in what he does, how he does it, and while he isn't one to sit around a campfire and brag, he will also tell people in necessary situations that he was the best medic in his division and had the steadiest hands. It's usually said with goodnatured humour it's one of those 'jokes but not really'. He's not the least bit humble when he has confidence in himself, and that pride often leads to conflict with other characters because he doesn't back down when he feels he's in the right. Because he's an (admittedly liberal dude — he's still mad that Henry Wallace lost the VP nom to Truman!) average guy from the 40s his idea of 'right' is not always actually right. He's logical and reasonable enough if actually confronted with information and knowledge, but if what he's opposing is the ephemera of opinion, he'll usually double down if he feels strongly enough about the subject.
In a similar vein, he's also incredibly stubborn. Fun fact: in a medical emergency in WW2, a medic automatically outranked and could override the orders of the top brass. However, for politeness' sake and so as not to make enemies unnecessarily, most medics tended not to do that. Not so, Gene. He would go toe-to-toe with any officer that questioned his patient care, and then he'd hold a grudge forever after. He can be kind of a petty prick (in a politely Southern way) when crossed. He tended not to speak negatively of anyone behind their backs, but Lord help them when he was face-to-face with them. His stubbornness often drives him to do things that are Bad Ideas just because he gets it in his head that they need doing or should be done, and he takes on way more than he should or has the time for as well because he is too damn stubborn to delegate.
He looks out for those around him, acting in the role of an older brother with practiced ease. Gene has a meticulous and nurturing nature, and takes other people easily under his wing. He acts quite a bit older than he actually is, due to the circumstances of his upbringing (being the family breadwinner by twelve was, you know, A Trip) and then the war that followed. This can lead to him being overbearing and, while well-meaning, he can also come across as patronizing. He tends to feel (in true early 20s dude fashion) that people should listen to him when he tells them what for. He also has a tendency to think he knows what's good for others — eat your vegetables, take your vitamins, etc — and it's hard to shake him out of that mindset that others need Looking After.
Now, when you take him out of Fraught situations...
He's somewhat sheltered due to his upbringing occurring mostly in a small, rural town in Alabama with a few hundred people to its name, but he's not terribly naive. Some of that comes through his association with ghosts, some of it comes of the years he spent in New York with his best friend Reggie Holiday. Reggie, who was quite well-traveled and -read, tended to challenge Gene's assumptions and push to broaden his horizons. He introduced Gene to a sundry variety of people, took him to underground bars that eschewed the racial segregation of the era and were GLBTQ+ friendly and the like. As a result, Gene is quite open to new experiences. He also tends to withhold judgement on people for superficial reasons — he's not going to treat someone badly because they're Different, but he's probably still going to pistol whip a Nazi, you know?
For the most part, he tends to believe and trust that people will always be their best selves if you give them the opportunity, and this is something that has gotten him burned in the past. He's aware of the possibility of being burnt like this, and believes firmly that it says more about the person doing the burning than it does him. He refuses to let experiences like that color his future interactions with others. Once burned, twice shy? Never knew her. Gene can be an absolute dumbass martyr in that respect.
Gene is generally soft-spoken but very stern, and he's very difficult to intimidate or fluster. Call it a side-effect of his upbringing, where his parents both taught him to stand up for himself and those who may be in need of protection, these teachings were later augmented by the War. Gene Does Not take other people's shit in any respect, but due to his being quiet and calm people are often lead to assume he's a pushover too. These people learn otherwise the hard way — Gene may be a peaceable man without much inclination towards violence, but he asserts himself with ease and confidence when necessary.
Of course, he can't hardly fight his way out of a wet paper bag, so that assertion doesn't always work out in his favor. Bless his heart.
He's friendly, but he's not really friends with people by and large. Being a medic meant he had to hold himself apart from other men in the war, and he finds great satisfaction in his own company. It's a rare person that can get Gene to open up emotionally to the point where he considers them a friend. Reggie was his First and Only, and when he died in the War, Gene didn't feel the need to seek another soul out to replace him. He even had a romantic dalliance with a man named Alex in the war, all managed without opening up to the man in the least. Gene is used to being an island and looking inward for solutions to his problems, he doesn't let on when things are bothering him. He struggles with C-PTSD in the years following the war, which... he pretty much does not bother addressing at all.
He can absolutely be prone to bouts of irritation and anger — despite his outward demeanor, Gene isn't quite so saintly as to never feel a negative temperament. Gene absolutely gets prickly when he's tired, when he's hungry, when he's nicotine-deprived or — in the war — if he happened to be coming down off the Benzedrine (uh. meth. it's meth.) that paratroopers popped like candy, or if he's recently dealt with high volumes of injured or dead soldiers. He attempts to stay civil when he feels himself getting angry, but he's not above yelling at people. He would (mostly) be driven to apologize later once he's in a better frame of mind, but. You know.
Honestly, at the end of the day, Gene is really not that complex as a character. He doesn't have hidden depths. He doesn't really have hidden anything. With the exception of seeing ghosts, he is 100 percent 'what you see is what you get'. A good southern boy who loves his folks and his family and God and believes that it's his duty to be kind to the world.
Basically, that's it. Powers and Abilities: His only 'power' is that he can see the dead/ghosts. I asked about it here, briefly, so I'm not sure whether or not it would work in the setting as a result. I'd like to keep it to an extent because it's a big part of his identity, but I'm open to changing how it works/limiting what he can see/hear/etc from the dead to mitigate any issues that arise from players muddling around with setting aspects. He's a medic in WW2, he's served for three years in the 82nd Division, 505th PIR. He also had to complete the full battery of infantry training for the paratroopers, which would have involved experience on the rifle range, pathfinding and some pretty brutal PT. He's seen action all across Europe, and it's been said of him that he has the steadiest hands in the battalion. He has the uncanny ability to Always Be Calm, which is something like a superpower in the midst of war, and has brought great comfort to a lot of folk at critical moments. Unfortunately, re: medicine — he's very much limited by the antiquity of his time. Sure, he can clamp an artery off, but his idea of wound care involves sulfa powder (which an alarmingly high percentage of the population is allergic to) and dressings and 'get this person to a division surgeon thanks'. He can do minor surgeries if pressed (digging out shrapnel, lancing infections, etc) but anything more complicated than that would be a struggle. That said, if it were necessary and no one else more qualified was around, he'd step up to the plate. Better to have tried and failed than not tried at all? Sorry about your (un)timely death. He can throw a... sort of? decent? punch I guess for a man of average height/weight for his era but it's not likely to come up because he is almost frighteningly slow to anger and he doesn't look to physical violence as a first (or second, or tenth) option in 99.9 percent of cases. However, he is wicked-good at baseball. Watch out, world. He also has a gift with linguistics, it's fairly easy for him to pick up on new ones. He has a decent amount of Welsh (his Pa was from Wales, just don't ask him to spell it out, lordy) and is conversant in French and German, as well as a smattering of words in other languages in use throughout Europe. Inventory: Cigarettes (Chesterfields) an old Roman Denarius with a deformation from being hit by a bullet, and his musette bag. Samples: Communication example and a thinking example. |
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