del

DEL(ilah) | 25 y/o lion | trans butch | any pronouns
(she, he, they - please alternate!)

Personality and history:

Tired, unassuming on the surface,  and keeps to herself. Blunted affect both due to their Schizophrenia  ("genetically") and 3 layers of meds, but he's more complex underneath.  Having coasted through most of their life as a sort of "background  character" to the rest of the world, Del rides on that wave and uses it  to her advantage to get by. With people they know they are patient, and  generally curious, but their general detachment from reality can easily  be misinterpreted as lack of interest. She is extremely occupied with  keeping up her "normal" appearance, and is willing to do anything to  appear to be doing well, including enrolling in college.

Del spent most of his late high school and early college (up to present)  career dealing with the "onset" of more severe mental illness symptoms,  and was repeatedly institutionalized by their "hypochondriac" mother as  a result. This environment is where Del learned that she should always  try to appear as "normal" on the surface as possible, only leading to  further worsening of his "delusions"... After dealing with psychiatric  abuse, Del only learned how to further hide himself (and his symptoms)  from the rest of the world, and it only worsened Del's detachment from  reality in general.

Basic story:

Del's story is set in the early 2000's (2005-2008). She works a dead-end  job at SUPER VIDEO ULTRA X-PRESS, a local video rental store, to pay  for her medications and contribute to her dorm's rent. Given the threat  of their insurance running out at age 26, Del is casually planning their  own suicide; beginning the process of dropping out of their sophomore  year of college - something they didn't feel very strongly about  starting in the first place. However, when Del's credit info gets stolen  off a receipt at their job, this turns his plan completely on it's  head.

After meeting Casey and finally finding someone who she feels she can  stop "hiding" around, the two of them find themselves on a path that  some outside observers might describe as "folie a deux"; for better or  worse.

Trivia:

• Del's online username is "4kickbacks" - a self-defeating jab at their unfortunate psychiatric history