CHARACTER INTRODUCTION: ALEXANDER
"She turned around and looked at him doubtingly. 'Don't you ever feel sad?' she asked him.
'Oh no' he said with a cheerless laugh. 'I gave up on that a long time ago.'
full name: (Lord) Alexander “Alex” Arthur Edward Harris
age: 19-24 (born May 1st, 1899)
gender/orientation: male, he/him/his, bisexual
family: One older brother (Travis), mother (Catherine), father (Arthur) (deceased)
appearence: about 5'9, dark blue eyes, black hair, quite pale, beautiful slim hands, not too muscular, but nevertheless most beautiful to look at/has a mischievous look in his eyes and a shadow on his face/is what many would call “eye candy” and knows it
personality: cynical, vain, mischievous, enthusiastic, always a bit late, loves to drink and smoke, but as he likes to say: “these are my least harmful vices”, tries to hide it, but has an incredibly good heart, also tries to hide any emotion other than happy, very interested in art and music, great singer with a voice like velvet, very flirtatious, falls in love easily (at least he calls it ‘falling in love), has a beautiful smile, is very direct and sometimes embarrassing, has a passion for crime and likes to talk about it anywhere, at any time (even during a meal), has constant heartache, even if he doesn’t know why
Biography: (includes mentions of war, injuries, death, crime and trauma)
He was born in Chagford in the south of England, as the younger son of Arthur Earnest Edward Harris, the 18th Duke Of Aubingly and Catherine Whitfield, the daughter of a wealthy tradesman. During his early childhood, he did not have much contact with his parents, for his mother was always ailing and his father did not like his children very much. Instead he and his brother were raised by different nannies, that he all disliked, and although surrounded by luxury, he was not a happy child. When he was ten and his brother was twelve, they discovered that their father had been cheating on their mother for at least five years with an “intellectual stunner” called Maude Fidget. This event had great impact on little Alexander and he swore never to do such a thing in his life.
At the age of thirteen, he joined Eton College in Windsor, where he met his lifelong best friend Clarence Fitzpatrick. It was Clarence who first introduced him to Marxism, a concept he would defend throughout his entire life.
At the age of fifteen, he discovered his bisexuality after having a crush on a fellow student. At first, he was deeply disturbed, but he got used to it and even enjoyed it, as it only “extended his field of activity”.
Shortly after his seventeenth birthday his school career came to an abrupt end when he and Clarence were expelled from Eton. It might seem justified at first, because they set the headmaster’s car on fire, but they only did this because they had learned that the headmaster was a fervent supporter of the plundering of the Indian population.
After being thrown out, Alexander spent some time home, where he constantly had to endure his father's rages, as his father could not cope with the shame that had come over his son and was terribly afraid for his reputation.
Then Alex joined the army, and within the first few months, his father died of a heart attack.
During the war he was transferred to France, where he was so seriously wounded in the first few weeks (a German soldier shot him in the right shoulder just below the neck) that he had to spend a long time in hospital. It didn't help that the wound became inflamed and he was tormented by terrible fever fantasies for almost a week.
During this time and also afterwards, the then fifteen-year-old American Elizabeth Gayle took care of him, who worked there as a nurse, together with her two sisters, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was love at first sight.
He proposed to her and she immediately accepted (they were as unreasonable as teenagers always are) and for some time he lived in the illusion of perfect happiness. Elizabeth or Bethee, as he called her, was indeed the female version of himself with the same love for indecent jokes and the same loud laughter. She also looked like Mary Pickford's younger sister, with long blonde curls, and was smaller than him, quite a bit smaller in fact. When he was transferred again, they had to say goodbye, and Alex’ world collapsed for some time. He fought in the Battle of Passchendaele and although miraculously he was not particularly badly injured, he watched thousands of other soldiers die in the most horrible way and suffered more mental injuries than physical ones.
By the time he finally returned home, he had somehow overcome his trauma, but the cheerful, bubbly, carefree boy had become a bitter, disappointed man at only nineteen. He had managed to retain his sense of humour, though. In a darker way.
If you catch the right time, you might see him strolling along Piccadilly one fine afternoon with lightly dancing steps and a dreamy look in his eyes.
song: Got A Date With An Angel (the best version in my opinion!)
taglist: @alias-levi @hildy-dont-be-hasty @writerlywonders, @buster-keaton @rememberedkisses ,if you also want to be added to my taglist, just ask or dm me! :)
