Jeremy Strong, 45, cisgender male, he/him ; ] … the photo on the missing poster is of THEODORE ARSÈNE. they are FORTY, and have been missing for ONE MONTH. when the sun rises, they work as a PSYCHIATRIST/HUNTER. rumors in town say they can be WOUNDED and RESILIENT. they chose to live in THE CHURCH, and have an uncanny resemblance to Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov (The Brothers Karamazov), The Narrator (Fight Club) and Silas (Da Vinci Code). Can they survive another night ?…⸻ a worn out Holy Bible in the bedside of a seedy motel, a bouquet of throned roses, a pack of Lucky Strikes, crisp linens, fresh bergamot, and a well loved stuffed rabbit.
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Name: Theodore S. Arsène
Alias: Theo, Teddy
Gender/Pronouns: male, he/him
Age: 40
Birthdate: 02/25
Big Three: Pisces, Sagittarius, Sagittarius
Occupation: Psychiatrist/Hunter
Height: 5'10"
Hometown: REDACTED, WI → Chicago, IL
Family: Samuel Grace (biological father), Asa Walker (father Asa), David Havemeyer (father David), Hester Grace (mother), Ruth Grace (mother), Ophelia Arsène (sister), Zipporah Grace (sister), Esther Grace (sister), Miriam Grace (sister), Eden Grace (sister), Michael Grace (brother), Aaron Grace (brother), Elijah Grace (brother), Barnabas Grace (brother), Jethro Grace (brother), Seth Grace (brother), Eresh Lenore Arsène (niece).
Friends: Ophelia Arsène
Relationship Status: single
Sexuality: heterosexual (glass closeted bisexual)
Other Relationships:
Character Inspiration: Schmidt - New Girl, Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov (The Brothers Karamazov), The Narrator (Fight Club) and Silas (Da Vinci Code), Morty Smith (Rick & Morty), Kenneth the Page - 30Rock.
Personality Type: ISFJ
The Family's Five Truth's (for Men)
Sacred Duty - Accept your castration willingly as a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice for your divine purpose.
Trust in Father - Father Samuel’s word is the Truth and you must never question his teachings lest you fall victim to the wretchedness of the World.
Defend Family Honor - Protect the Family at any and all costs from any evil influences, ensuring the legacy is upheld
Provide and Serve - Work tirelessly to sustain the family physically and spiritually.
Sacrifice your Desires - Renounce any personal pleasure, desire or ambition for the greater good of the Family.
The Family's Five Truth's (for women)
Obey Authority- Follow the Leaders without question.
Purity Above All - Guard your body and mind from worldly possessions.
Silent Submission - Speak only when spoken to; silence is a virtue.
Family is God's Will - Marry young, bear children, and serve your family's role.
Faith over Doubt - Never question the teachings; unwavering belief ensures salvation.
Biography
TW: physical & mental abuse, castration, religious cult and all that entails, homophobia, kidnapping
Protect and Serve. A familiar term for people in the armed services, and for everyone born into the Family. Especially the boys, as it was their duty. And poor Theodore, he had to be a Grace boy. Born at around one in the morning; screaming. Perhaps he was brought into the world with an innate knowing of what his fate was, where his bloodline lay. Theo was born into, what they called, the Family. A group of like-minded individuals who lived together in a communal setting. They had for centuries. It wasn’t easy growing up on the compound. Children were taught to be quiet, to keep their heads down and their hands busy. Everything the way it should be; for the Greater Good. Step too far out of line and be punished. These punishments varied in severity and manner but cruel all the same.
"She keeps beating the children and they are all crying. She is teaching Lida to sing 'My Village,' the boy to dance, Polenka the same. She is tearing up all the clothes, and making them little caps like actors; she means to carry a tin basin and make it tinkle, instead of music.... She won't listen to anything.... Imagine the state of things! It's beyond anything!" - Marmeladov (Crime and Punishment).
Theo was good at this. Keeping his head down and working. Never questioning the rules laid out before him. In his youngest, most tender years – he was nearly forgotten. You wouldn’t hear a peep from little Theo. He had a keen eye already and quickly took notice of what to do to be favored in the eyes of Father. Brown Noser, Suck Up. It didn’t matter; he did what he had to in order to survive. These brown nosing activities did nothing to spare him from the extreme pathologies of the Elders. It was already set in stone. They had already reached their capacity for men, and even being Samuel’s son couldn’t save him from that.
The day it happened, it changed something inside of him. Something as visceral, as painful, as wretched as that – you could never make it out and be the same person as before. He was twelve. It was the single worst act of betrayal he has experienced, even to this day. Suddenly, Theo was doing everything he wasn’t supposed to do. He was thinking for himself, asking himself; Why? Why would God want this to happen to me? My parents? The people who are supposed to love me?’. He felt like a well run dry, and he was starting to see where it was planted – the sky was barren and it would be some time before the rain came. He started plotting how he was going to leave but for two years he allowed himself to be brow beat into questioning his own thoughts. The Hallmark of the Grace Fathers. By the time he was 15, he could hardly take it. The way he saw his sister’s used as cattle, ones branded and beat. His brothers, indoctrinated into submission. At night, he tossed and turned; haunted by the cries of his brothers and sisters. The only people in the world who understood, only people who actually loved. Oh god, it was unbearable! He was fevered, sweaty palms and sweaty sheets.
By 16, he found refuge in a boy who lived in the nearest town. Needy and begging for some hope to cling to, he falls in love. Hopeless and messy. Sloppy, even - which is why one of his other brother’s spotted him kissing the other. Of course, he immediately ran to tell all the Mothers and Fathers. The thing’s Theo suffered from in retaliation of this ‘act of defiance to God’ are purely put, unspeakable. A ‘Purification Ritual’. So unspeakable that he gathered all of the things he could that night and fled. As far as his tired legs could take him. To a county road. His thumb pointed upwards, bloody and weak. A hotel general manager passing through took pity on him and agreed to take him wherever she was going. Perhaps the largest act of kindness he had experienced so far, besides the siblings that helped him with his escape. Theo didn’t know where he was going to go and it didn’t really matter to him.
Chicago, that’s where she was headed. Some kind of conference. She couldn’t help him out besides that. She had dropped him off at the hospital, figuring he needed some kind of assistance. Outside this looming building is where he met Dr. Lemoine, an old curmudgeon who also took pity on this poor thing.
You see, this Dr. Lemoine had also suffered a similar fate as a young boy. A result of illness rather than evil but the sting feels the same. A man fated to have no sons, and a son fated to have no father. Like Sherlock and Watson, they were quite the pair. Dr. Lemoine taught him everything he knew about psychiatry. He groomed him into an excellent Psychiatrist, enrolling him into advanced classes (once he had caught up of course), private tutors and everything he needed to thrive. Theo took to this very quickly, eager to soak up all of the knowledge he could. Ignorance tasting too bitter on his tongue after being forced into it his entire life. He thrived here, able to empathize with other people. Their pains, their fears. He could psychoanalyze someone in give minutes flat.
He was still in his residency when Ophelia came to live with him. Theo rented an okay for Chicago one bedroom. Usually just enough for him, but he would take the couch for her. Anything to give his sister the best, she didn’t need to suffer anymore than she had. He got by working odd jobs; usually wait staff. He could always lean on his interim father for monetary help but he didn’t like to do this. Theo strove to not put any more burden onto the kind man he affectionately calls Dad.
Everything was looking up. He was about to receive his license to practice, his sister was by his side and doing better than ever, not a single penny out of place. Until the wretched night that she was ripped away from their new life, undoubtedly ratted out by another sibling. All the way in Chicago, their gangstalking had no limits.
For the first time in his life, he felt pure hatred. He wanted to kill his father, everyone who had lead to this. Theo fixated on this for years, trying to figure out how to get her back without being drug back there by his fingernails too. So naturally, when he got word that Ophelia was once more escaped, safe in Arcadia; his feet moved before he did and he ran to her. The only time in his life he ran and knew where he was going. Theo fled with conviction, not even sleeping until he reached the Theatre.
Headcannons/Additional Information
Theodore tends to play 'psychiatric detective’ any time he meets someone new. He knows it’s a bit uncouth but sometimes he really can’t help himself.
He loves to paint; relishing in being able to express himself fully and in any way that gives him respite. He doesn’t really show these to anyone.
Theo is a hunter but he’s new to the game and kind of terrible at it. He hates guns, violence and anything of that sort but he feels a moral obligation to do this in order to take care of his sister. He’s trying his best and getting better every day.
He has a dry, almost dark sense of humor. Sardonically witty. It might not be humorous to all, but to those that get him and his absurdities – he’ll view them as kindred spirits.
He’s very sentimental and keeps with him at all time’s a book of poetry and a keychain that was given to him by Doctor Lemoine.
Theodore is prone to isolating himself as a coping mechanism. He believes it’s safer to be alone than having to open up to anyone.
Oddly, he has a very competitive spirit and loves intellectual pursuit. Chess? Yes, please. Debate? Yes. He hates to lose but doesn’t care once it’s all said and done. Perhaps it’s more the barbs and the game than winning – but while the games on, it’s game on for Theo.
He’s secretly a hopeless romantic, the last person you would expect. Behind his closed-off exterior, he yearns for someone to understand him. He’s highly unlikely to react to this or do anything about it – fearing that he’ll never be accepted. His favorite thing to read is Franz Kafka’s Letters to Milena.
He has a weird relationship with religion and faith. I don't really know how to properly articulate it - simply put, it's complicated. He tries to practice an assortment of religions, hoping to find himself or perhaps find answers.
Theo also has a weird relationship with physical intimacy, his castration has created a lot of mental barriers for him.
He’s a bit compulsive in more ways than one, always meticulous and perfectly organized. He’s recognized he does this as a means for control over his life.
Despite his hardships, he's still a very kind man who's a bit goofy, trying to make light of every bad situation.
Wanted Connections
Wild card friends - someone who brings him out of his shell and teaches him how to embrace life.
Friends - despite being quite destitute he does crave friends and companionship.
Exes or casual relationships - can be male or female, but keep in mind this repressed boy is still in the closet, in denial of his feelings, traumatised by his confusing upbringing.
Ex love from when he was 16 - this would have to be a boy and someone who lived near the religious group.
Patients or colleagues - he’s empathetic and rational, the best listener he knows. He can help lend a hand without shame or judgement.
Other members of the queer community to help him embrace who he is - he has a lot of trouble with his sexuality, being raised to believe that he was wrong for his attractions to other males. Being around others who are authentically themselves might help him out of his shell too.
