uncease

Name: Alli
Age: 25
Contact: plurk: airchildstrega
Characters Already in Teleios: The Doctor
Reserve:

Character Name: David Nolan/Prince James/Prince Charming
Journal: uncease
Age: early 30s
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Canon Point: 2x9
Debt:

Class A: 25
Class B: 50
Class C: 6 months

Infidelity

GRAND TOTAL: 75 years, 6 months

History: here and here

Personality: Even before the curse that created a separate mundane personality, the Prince wasn’t exactly a simple knot to untangle. Before he was forced to take on the mantle of Prince James, the unnamed shepherd twin was a man who lived by a basic code of morality. He lived and worked on his mother’s farm, caring for her as best he could. He had hope that they would always find a way to solve their financial woes, that they would be able to find the solution to their plight without stooping to immoral means. And above all else, he believed in true love- not willing to sell off his heart in order to make their lives more comfortable. His life was simple then, and so his sense of right and wrong seemed just as simple. The black and white of the world held little gray for the shepherd that would one day become Prince.

In learning what his parents did for the sake of their farm, Charming didn’t know what to think. He’d been lied to for his entire life. Despite the betrayal, he never blamed his mother. In fact, the only reason he agreed to go to the King was to ensure his mother’s safety and security. His life was pushed aside for hers, because that was the sort of son she had raised- that was the sort of man he had become. He wasn’t very good at being someone else, which calls back to his roots in morality. When the fight with the dragon was going south, he couldn’t sit back and watch good men die, so he went after the beast himself. Being selfless is easy when you’re poorer than dirt and have only some sheep and a mother to care for. Being selfless when a fire breathing dragon is trying to have you for lunch? It takes a great deal of character to charge after it, let alone have the wits about you to outsmart it. It was in this moment that the shepherd became a prince, but more than that, it was when he realized the sort of man he would always be.

Unfortunately, playing King George’s game meant living a lie. After being forced to promise to marry a woman he didn’t love, Charming knew that morals weren’t always going to be so cut and dry. His life was suddenly a little gray. Living a lie created a paradox for him, trying to be good while knowing it wasn’t exactly the truth. The innocence of the simple shepherd was destroyed in this way.

Falling in love was the next life changing event for the Prince. If you had asked him if he had thought that his true love would be a thief who was wanted for treason by the Queen? Well, he might have laughed at you. But there was Snow and she was everything he could ever want in the world. The gray of the world continued to creep in. His own personal morals were at war with that of the royalty that governed his life. For the first time, doing what he thought was right would make him a traitor. And in this moment, he realized that he could only listen to his own heart, and that if he followed what he believed was true and right, that he would always find the path.

This is perhaps the most easily mirrored plight that Charming’s real-world counterpart has to face. David Nolan’s situation was tangled in a few more complications than a King forcing his hand. David tried desperately to be a good man, but he truthfully wasn’t very good at it. In David’s case, it was the curse that forced him to marry Katherine. To her, their life was no lie and she (at least as far as we know) did not have a lost love that she had left behind as Abigail did. Katherine simply wanted to be a good wife and to love him. But David loved another. The war between the false memories placed within his mind and the feelings his heart demanded of him plagued him. David’s moral compass was a little wobbly, darting back and forth between the two magnetic poles. His actions were contradictory because he could never decide which life he truly wanted. In a nutshell, the man wanted his cake and to eat it too. He wanted to have it all and leave no wounded behind. Because of his own lack of consistency, when it came time to put faith in others, he faltered. When Mary Margaret was accused of killing Katherine, David wasn’t certain if she was innocent or not. In reality, it was his own waffling that he had no faith in. If he couldn’t choose a life to lead, how could he depend on anyone else to be steadfast?

After the curse was broken and Charming’s memories were returned, he didn’t forget who he was as David. That part of him remained and melded with the Charming persona. David is the worst parts of Charming- hesitance, doubt, and poor judgment. But with Charming to root him, the moral compass is finally righted. He still falters, because in the real world, things don’t always wrap up as neatly as a fairy tale, but he knows to trust his instincts and to trust what he knows is right. He knows who to believe in (his wife, his daughter, his friends) and who to be wary of (Regina, Gold).

Powers/Abilties: The inexplicable ability to find Snow White. Pretty damn good with a sword. Charming as hell.

Appearance: here

Samples:

Actionspam Sample: here

Prose Sample:

When the curse broke, it felt like waking up, and though it was sudden- a wave crashing over him, it felt painfully slow. The fog surrounding his memories pulled back, letting the whole of another life blanket over the one created for this world. It folded in, creating a confusing other self that was both David and Charming while neither of them at all. It was confusing and wonderful at the same time.

It was as if he could see both men standing in front of him, could hear both voices calling out their thoughts. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it just yet. Being one man and then another was fine- but now he was… both? He’d have to learn to balance the two. He’d have to learn where one stopped and another began.

Most importantly, when the fog cleared, he knew he had to find her.

Snow. His wife. His true love. They had spent the last 28 years right in front of one another but not fully understanding who they were. The whole world finally many sense and the first thing he needed to do was find her. He’d love her in any reality and he had. Both men within him wanted to see her face, and now with his true self found, he knew he could love her unabashedly.

They could have their happy ending.