â BASICS
Name: Sheperd "Shep" Jonathan DâAngelo Age / D.O.B: 42. September 3rd, 1982 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Cis male, he/him, heterosexual Hometown: Los Angeles, California Affiliation: Law Enforcement Job position: Homicide Detective with the NYPD Education: Graduated high school and the Police Academy Relationship status: Widower Children: Lorelai (25) and Jillian (11) Positive traits: Compassionate, honest, patient, reliable Negative traits: Dogmatic, stubborn, tense, sacrificial
â BIOGRAPHY
Trigger warnings: Infertility tw, miscarriage tw, death tw
Shepherd Jonathan DâAngelo was the first child born to Carolyn and John âMontyâ DâAngelo, born in sunny Los Angeles. As the oldest of two children, Shep quickly became a third parent for his younger sister, ensuring she carried out her duties around the house and cleaning up after her if she didnât. After all, even though he was the more responsible of the two, the last thing he wanted was for her to get into any kind of trouble. The family was tight-knit, Shep looking up to both of his parents, but especially his father, who he considered â and still does â a hero.
It was clear from a very young age that he held the most interest in following in his fatherâs footsteps, but it wasnât the only motivation for his decision to join the police force. He could recall turning on the television at 8 years old to see the evidence of corruption amongst the LAPD, especially in the midst of the Rodney King trial, and vowing to be a part of the change the institution needed to be a force for good again. He would shadow his dad whenever he could, insisting on helping him brainstorm on cases where he was stuck, so he could hone his skills. His mother cautioned him not to grow up too quickly and to live in the moment as a teenager, but it wasnât until Michelle Deacon came into his life that he felt the desire to do so.
Michelle had skipped a grade after her family moved to the area, placing her in many of the same classes as him. She was an Air Force brat, having moved to nearly as many different towns in as many years as she'd been alive, but it seemed as though they intended to stay in the area for a while this time around and she'd finally felt comfortable enough to start making friends. With their last names being so close together, they'd been seated next to each other since the 5th grade, but he had never truly taken notice of her as anything more than a friend until freshman year of high school. The two of them grew closer and they went on a few dates, but before he could ever officially ask her to be his girlfriend, his father broke the news: they were going to be moving to his hometown of New York City.
Although the teens were being separated, they vowed to keep in contact, which is exactly what they did for all of senior year. They never explicitly said they were an item, but their letters and phone calls late into the night said enough. Following graduation, Michelle began attending NYU, Shep enrolled in the police academy, and the two moved in together shortly after that. Things were starting to feel right in his world â until a little pink plus sign on a pregnancy test nearly derailed the train.
The two had talked about having a family one day, but they had expected to be settled in their careers by the time that happened. After many conversations (and more than one lecture from his parents for not using proper protection), the two decided to proceed with the pregnancy and welcomed their daughter Lorelai into the world a few months later, named after Michelleâs great grandmother. They managed to juggle the responsibilities of being new parents with their studies and once they both had graduated, he proposed to Michelle, the two getting married a little over a year later with Lorelai as their flower girl.
He worked his way up the ranks, refusing promotions if he felt he hadnât earned it and was simply being offered it because of his name. He never wanted to be handed anything in his career if only so he could prove himself capable to himself, but also to be a man his wife and child could be proud of. He made detective after nearly ten years of hard work and about that much time of the couple attempting to have more children. Although they had a few false starts, Michelle experienced a few miscarriages and they feared infertility. Finally, when Lorelai was nearly a teenager, they managed to get pregnant again with another little girl.
Fate, however, had the last laugh. Doctors diagnosed Michelle with preeclampsia late in her pregnancy, and although the doctors had told them everything would be okay and it was a relatively common occurrence, nobody expected for it to progress to full-blown eclampsia. Shortly after giving birth, Michelle suffered a stroke as a result and passed away. Their daughter, Jillian, was born with a low birth weight and remained in the NICU for a few weeks, but ultimately came out unscathed.
The loss was devastating for him, but he barely had time to grieve the loss because he needed to be there for his girls. He stepped up, and with the help of the important figures in his life, he managed to make it through. He avoided taking on further promotions to higher roles although theyâve presented themselves over the years because he knew more responsibility would take him away from his girls, and he wanted to devote as much time to them and making their dreams come true as he possibly can.
â WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS
Best friend â I see this person as being his first friend when he transferred to a new school in NYC going into his senior year, someone who reached out to the new kid and welcomed him with open arms. They've been friends ever since and his girls consider this person to be basically family.
Partner â Shep and this person have been on the force together for at least a few years and have gone through the ups and downs of life together. They've got each other's backs both on and off the field.
Enemies â It's not really a matter of if but how many. Shep is very much a good ol' boy and plays by the rules, so there's no doubt he's rubbed some people the wrong way or gotten some people in trouble for playing things too fast and loose. There could also be those who perceive him as being in his role due to nepotism. I'm open on this one!
