Profile
Whisper
the dear hunter
percy vanderbilt
live, laugh, lawyer
Best described as an intelligent garbage can, Percy is a friendly, if overcasual guy. He treats nearly everyone with friendly irreverence regardless of social status or seniority and lazes around most of the day, oftne procrastinating work in favor of catching up with local gossip or his latest romance novel. He'll take any opportunity to crack a joke no matter how badly timed it may be, and while he may not be the person to begin chaos, he will certainly exacerbate it if given the chance.
Despite his lacking personality, Percy is damn good at whatever job he sets to; the reason he slacks off is often because he's already completed his work, even if it doesn't seem like it at first; he doesn't take any notes, so it seems on the surface that he doesn't take his job seriously. In reality, Percy has a photographic memory so he doesn't take notes simply because he doesn't need to. Even if backed into a corner, Percy isn't one to concede, capable of arguing his way out of just about anything but knowing when to take a loss if it's truly hopeless. Unfortunately, he has illusions of hypercompetence thanks to his infallible memory; as such, his ego is massively bloated, and his tendency to rely on his own memory and perceptions alone can make him dismissive of others' opinions on matters.
likes
- Romance novels
- Cooking
- Really bad jokes
- Glitter pens
dislikes
- Overly sweet snacks
- Custody battles
- The smell of fish
- Paperwork
Food
honey garlic chicken
Drink
vanilla tea
Color
dark blue
Flower
tulip
Season
autumn
Weather
partly cloudy
Animal
snakes
Genre
romance
- Extremely good at housework, cooking, and baking. He has an excellent sense of interior design, too.
- Attends synagogue regularly and keeps a Star of David in his pocket. He doesn't wear it publicly, though.
- He went to Fale Law school. When someone asks, he tells them he's a "fail" graduate and they usually assume he's an alumnus. He doesn't bother correcting them.
- He has a pet raven, Eddie, who he talks about like a dog.
- Since his divorce he's found a penchant for tinkering with things. He has a workbench at home littered with half-disassembled machinery and tools.
- He has a tendency to go into big-brother mode when he sees someone younger than him, especially if they're around his sister's age.
- His grandfather, Moshe Vanderbilt, was a well-known defense attorney in his heyday. He was also known for dating detectives and even dated the District Attorney at one point. Percy carries his badge around in his pocket.
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After his sister contracted tuberculosis, Percy dropped out of college and took money meant for his unborn son to pay for her surgery.
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After several years of trying to make their marriage work, during which Percy fell into a depressive spiral, his wife, Amelia, divorced him and took custody of their son Blake.
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Percy scraped his life back together and began going out to bars every night, usually taking home a companion or two. He got a job as a news editor and worked at the New Bailey Herald until he saw the ad for the Rookie Law Program.
Percy grew up around the New Bailey area, enjoying a peaceful, uneventful childhood. HIs parents, second-generation Jewish immigrants, made a decent living for themselves, with his mother teaching at the local elementary school and his father running a bakery. Percy's younger sister, Miriam, was a bit sickly and could not join the family on many of their outings, but Percy loved her regardless. However, he was always aware that his family was just one or two disasters away from living on the street.
As a child, Percy's grandfather, Moshe, would often entertain his grandkids with stories of his glory days as a lawyer, recounting some of his more harrowing cases and flashing his heavy, old-fashioned badge. The stories stuck in Percy's mind, and he decided that he would follow in his grandfather's footsteps and get a law degree of his own. With this resolve, Percy worked through his teenage years to earn enough money to attend college and law school.
During his college years, Percy met Amelia Udge, a law student studying the judiciary. The two hit it off well (after Amelia beat Percy at chess so hard he fell in love) and the two soon began dating, marrying partway through law school when Percy was 23 and Amelia 21. For the first several months of their marriage they enjoyed a peaceful partnership, working together to achieve their dreams to take the legal world by storm and tackle the corruption of the New Bailey circuit at its roots.
Three months before the bar exam, when Amelia was six months pregnant, tragedy struck. Percy's sickly sister Miriam contracted a severe form of tuberculosis, and with her physical condition already so grim, her only hope for survival was an expensive surgery. The Vanderbilt parents ultimately decided not to pay for the surgery, as it was not guaranteed to work and would leave them destitute. Just when Percy was about to realize his dream, he was going to lose his sister.
He made a choice.
Percy dropped out of college and scraped together what was left of his tuition. He also invaded his personal savings as well as a checking account he shared with his wife, where they had been saving money for their unborn child. He managed to together just enough money to pay for the surgery. It was a gamble. It was a huge, risky, stupid gamble.
It was his sister.
Miriam survived the surgery, but Percy couldn't celebrate for long. His wife, Amelia, was furious at him for taking the money without telling her, and for dropping out of college as they had been planning to live off Percy's income while Amelia kept going to school. Furious, Amelia accused Percy of choosing his sister over his wife. This angered Percy in turn and marked the moment their marriage began to crumble.
Without a degree, Percy moved from job to job, maintaining steady unemployment while his wife gave birth to their son and eventually graduated despite their financial struggles. Amelia continued to provide for most of the household finances while Percy funneled nearly all of his income into his sister's hospitalization; while she had survived the surgery, the illness had worsened what was left of her health, and she was forced to stay at the hospital indefinitely.
Crushed by the loss of his dreams, his decaying marriage and his sister's hopeless situation, Percy picked up a drinking habit and alcoholism, becoming a terrible father and a worse husband. He was absent at best and neglectful at worst; his loved his son, Blake, but simply could not be there for him due to his own issues and his family's unstable finances. While their financial situation eventually improved with Amelia being able to return to work as Blake got older, Percy did not, stubbornly sitting in his rut and drinking the days away.
After suffering in a festering, broken marriage for nearly eight years, Amelia snapped and demanded a divorce. Percy agreed readily; they had tried to make it work for the sake of their son, but Percy's own decision years ago had shattered any chance of a peaceful marriage. He did not, however, expect to lose custody rights of his child, and the image of watching his ex-wife and son's retreating backs burned into his mind.
This was Percy's wake-up call to clean up his act. Over the next several months he steadily cut down his drinking and picked up a job as an editor for the New Bailey Herald, one of the newspapers in the city. He still budgeted most of his income to pay for his sister's hospital bills as she repeatedly refused their parents' attempts to contribute.
Percy ran across an advertisement for the Rookie Law Program one day while working and recalled his failed dream to be a lawyer. He decided to apply on a whim despite his lack of qualifications, other than possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of law theory and every law in the justice system due to his photographic memory. Percy visited his parents and "borrowed" his grandfather's old badge; then he attended the interview, where he recited various laws at Irina Smolmes until she approved him. He may not be a real lawyer, but he'll win your case. Just expect your invoice to be written in glitter pen.
- Hooded eyes.
- Large, hooked nose.
- Big, bushy brows.
- Body hair galore.
- He likes to wear men's corsets rather than a regular waistcoat. He keeps several, including a black one for his sister's inevitable funeral and a fancy red one he breaks out for parties, but for work and day-to-day wear he goes with the blue corset he wears in his reference image.
- When off work, he opts for comfortable button-downs and sweaters. In the winter he wears a thick, fluffy scarf his sister knit for him.
- Heavy stress in his early 20s gave him early grey hairs and eyebags.
- He likes wearing wingtip shoes, but without socks. Don't ask.
Whatever needs to be done for her, I'll do it. I don't care what it is. She's my sister, you hear me? She's my sister.
Percy's younger sister, terminally hospitalized due to her weak constitution and poor health. Percy is the one paying her hospital bills. He loves her more than anyone else in the world, but she also causes him no end of stress, as he keeps a binder with her funeral details handy for when she inevitably kicks the bucket.
Percy will do anything for his sister.
Anything.
It's a better call to trust her judgement on certain things. She's got an angle, but it's not a bad one.
...I hope.
The boss of the RLP. She's a woman of many secrets, but Percy doesn't mind as long as she keeps signing his paychecks. He respects her for booting up the program and, from what he's seen of his coworkers, she's a good judge of character. While he has reservations about her motivations, after the incident at the Nightingale Ball he no longer has any qualms about her judgement and will defer to her when he's uncertain about particular situations.
My cowboy, my dumbass, my sweetheart, my Angel.
Percy's boyfriend, a title that Angel earned with more than a little effort. It's the first time Percy's been this comfortable in a relationship; he's already shown Angel the ugliest side of him and been accepted in spite of it. He won't be abandoned even if he does something terrible, and Percy doesn't know if that elates or terrifies him.
Following the thallium incident, Percy has realized he doesn't just like Angel; he loves him, with a depth he wasn't aware he was capable of. It's very new to him, and he's not quite sure what to make of it, but for now all he knows is he wants to stay by Angel's side and he'll do whatever it takes to remain there.
An idiot, t'be sure, but he's funny about it. Has his moments of lucidity, too.
A funny guy to be sure, but Percy's seen those flashes of seriousness too. But those are few and far between, so he prefers to think of Badger as a funny dude and an easy target for some light bullying. He doesn't always appreciate the guy's shenanigans but he does appreciate how lighthearted he makes the office.
When will Luna be over next? Blake's got a new train for her doll t'ride in.
A fellow parent, Percy likes Clover's relaxed demeanor and looks forward t seeing Luna at the daycare he picks up Blake at. The guy is so chill and relaxed Percy can't bring himself to even try to mess with them.
Nice girl. Straightforward. Friendly... er, not t'me, though, but I guess that's kinda expected.
Edith is a hardworking older sister, and Percy likes that about her, seeing her as a cheerful young lady with a particular disdain for him. That's fine, though; she did catch him sucking face at the bar, and that had to make for a poor first impression. He can't resist teasing her a little and has come to see her regular umbrella whacking as a gesture of affection.
...I ain't got a clue why he gives me such a frosty reception, but after seein' Meals give him a wave I've got my suspicions.
The only person Percy works with outside the RLP, he and Gabo work as an editor and journalist respectively at the New Bailey Herald. Having shadowed Gabo's mother's case, he's somewhat aware of his personal baggage but doesn't know what he's personally done to earn Gabo's ire. He has no idea, of course, that Gabo takes tea regularly with his ex-wife Amelia, but he has growing suspicions after seeing them interact in court.
I owe him. I owe him everything.
The surgeon that saved Miriam's life ten years ago. Percy feels indebted to him in a way he can never pay back. He's more likely than not to take Johan's side in an argument and regularly offers him the best bread and pastries from his father's bakery at no charge.
The Vanderbilts love having him over for dinner, and Percy likes having him over even more because it means he doesn't have to talk about Angel.
The professor's a nice enough guy. I'd like t'get to know him better, actually.
Percy doesn't know too much about Ashley, other than that he's a professor with more than a few critics of his papers. However, their web of mutual acquaintances means they inevitably end up in each other's circles; Ashley's boyfriend is the surgeon that saved Percy's sister and Percy's boyfriend is a good friend of Ashley's. Since their social circle is closer than they both thought, Percy wants to get to know the guy better, if only to thank him for bringing Angel back to New Bailey in the first place.
Nice kid. Wonder what he's hidin', though... or rather, what the boss is hidin' about him.
Irina Smolmes' protegé, Percy feels a bit bad for him since he has to do Irina's bidding, but the kid seems to enjoy it so more power to him. He finds Jojo takes everything a bit too seriously and is curious to see if there's anything that would make him loosen up, even a little.
I'm proud t'call him my friend. He's a good guy, helps keep my head where I need it. One of the RLP's best.
An older man that Percy likes to work with, especially since they have a shared interest in tinkering, though Jory is clearly more invested. Percy's friendliness towards him is genuine, though his personality doesn't always make that apparent, and the fact that they regularly end up on opposing sides in the courtroom makes it harder to tell if they're good friends or not.
Despite their conflicts in court, Percy cares for Jory very much and tries to show it in his own way. He's somewhat reminded of his son and tries to take similar approaches in their relationship, letting Jory approach him instead of the other way around. So far it's worked out beautifully, and he considers Jory one of his closest friends.
A bit of an oddball, but they're pretty good at keepin' me grounded in the worst of times, and I appreciate that about 'em.
It feels like Percy and Suture are on the same page, but not the same wavelength. He appreciates their bluntness and how easy they are to work with in court, though their singlemindedness towards how to handle proceedings are sometimes a challenge to work with. He genuinely likes them and appreciates their skill, and while he's aware Suture doesn't exactly return his feelings, it doesn't bother him all that much.
I know I'm not the nicest guy, but did they hafta sic a goose on me...?
Percy is convinced that Wei dislikes him ever since they sicced a goose on him. Since they hang out with Dakota, he assumes they share her mischievous streak, but it feels like they enjoy bullying him specifically.
. . .
Percy's ex-wife, who has custody of their son, Blake. She's a judge on the Bailey circuit and has built herself a solid career despite Percy dragging his feet on their marriage. She understands his choice to prioritize Miriam in the past, but that doesn't mean she can't resent him for it.
As far as Amelia is concerned, Percy deserves every awful thing that happens to him.
As far as Percy's concerned, she's right.
