#valbio

TW // Disability, gang affiliation, drinking, drugs

As a kid, Val was precocious and wild. A middle child in a family of five, the young curly-haired child would get his older and younger sisters, Benna and Ruth, to tag along on all his hair-brained schemes. But Val took longer to ‘grow up’ than their sisters. Ruth was off to law school and Benna went into fashion and moved to the States. Val had just barely graduated high school and was convinced college wasn’t for him. Even so, living with his mother showed Val a strong woman working in journalism, and he started to wonder if that was his path as well.

Finally seeking out college programs, Val decided to apply for residencies. Despite not having much experience, a professor at BU decided to take him in, finding their application intriguing. It was Val’s first time away from home for more than a few days and he made the most of it. The first few weeks were all partying and sleeping around, but Val started noticing an issue with their vision- it was getting harder to read the whiteboard, and he found himself trying on reading glasses, having issues with the reading homework. Even their own notes were suffering- and after a trip to an eye doctor, Val got some bad news. Their vision was failing and in the next year or so, they’d most likely be legally blind. With this knowledge, it re-started something inside them. He wanted to do well in school, wanted to get the things done he’d always wanted. With a few helpful professors encouraging them, Val was writing creative stories he’d thought about way back when he was growing up in Kilkenny. Suddenly there was a manuscript, and just as suddenly, Val Dupont was a published author with a series of middlegrade fantasy novels. 

In Kilkenny, Valentine was born into a family of dreamers. Their younger sister Ruth wanted to be an astronaut, their older sister Benna wanted to be a fashion designer, and Val always loved writing and imagining. With a mother in journalism and a father in film, Val always seemed to be learning- taking in new information like a sponge and finding where best to put it. 

Most of all, Val loved to chat and get people talking. Their effervescent and easygoing personality often drew others out of their shells. They felt comfortable with them. Even could confide in them. 

Becoming a psychologist seemed to be the best route. Val loved writing but they knew they couldn’t go making a living off of some self published book about fairy tales. Instead they went off to university. Amidst partying, flings, and ragers, Val somehow didn’t flunk out - but their parents certainly thought they would. 

After graduating, Val didn’t want to take the needed courses to get their license - they were burnt out, overwhelmed… taking a few years off, Val lived with their parents again. They slipped into more drinking, drugs, partying. The whole nine yards, until at 26, they had a drug scare. Took something from someone who said it was something - but it definitely wasn’t. Too much, and not knowing what on earth was in their system.

A long talk with mum & dad, and they finally began their courses to begin their actual career. And the professors liked them - praised their ability to empathize, to de-escalate and to bring someone out of their shell. With professor referrals they were soon off to becoming a psychologist. 

Then it turned boring. Val’s need for excitement would occasionally dip into drugs again- and buying from a Jabberwock member on the down low seemed to curb that. But working as a psychologist for local police was thankless and boring. As the hit their 30s, they wondered if this was all there was.

Around 33, Val started noticing problems with their vision. A blur in and out that wouldn’t fully go away. Suddenly they needed glasses, and even those seemed to go up in prescription too quickly. The eye doctor gave the unfortunate news that they were losing their vision, and in the next few years, it would be completely gone. 

This seemed to spark something in Val. Urgency. They couldn’t be stuck in this job forever when they could be going for what they wanted, needed. Higher profile clients, interesting stories. They applied and became the Met’s new psychologist, and worked every day off writing the old stories they’d thought of back in college.

Suddenly there was a book. Margot Sees Magic is sent to agents- picked up, sent to publishers. Picked up and published. Suddenly, a bestseller. All the while, as Val settled into their role as Met psychologist, they start to get interesting visitors.

Gang members of various distinctions - and high standing. Offering money for information. An easy choice for someone who loves to gossip, and has struggled to afford their own flat for years. 

Now Val feeds information to both sides - Jabberwock and Jolly Roger alike can find appointments with them, either for actual help or something a bit more nefarious. A swapping of money for intel - and Val has plenty to spare. 

Headcanons: 

-Val has started using a red-tipped walking cane for help. They have not completely lost their vision yet, but things have become so blurry even with glasses that they’ve stopped bothering with them.

-Val still buys drugs occasionally from members of Jabberwock and occasionally dips back into it, though they try very hard to keep it to weed and wine.

Val was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, and lived there for most of his adolescent life. He grew up with 2 sisters he loved very much, and his mum and dad. The five of them were a tightknit family- his father did a lot of traveling for work but he was around often enough, and his mom was a journalist, doing remote work so she could take care of the three kids. His family was never very affluent- they had just enough to get by, with three kids attending school with various hobbies. His sisters Benna and Ruth grew up to go off and do their own things, Benna moving to the States early on and Ruth going closer to London.

Val’s mother’s job always fascinated him and he decided to go to college for journalism like her. Getting a scholarship, he attended Boston University and it was his first time in the States. From there, he was back and forth between Ireland and the US, coming back for family events and summers, but studying in Boston.

During sophomore year of college, Val started noticing their vision declining. While he wore glasses, he was getting new prescriptions more often than he was accustomed to and found things going in and out of focus. When seeing an eye doctor, he had various tests done and it turned out that their vision was devolving, and soon, he would be almost completely blind. Val took this blow very hard- they were always a very visual learner, loved writing which involved a lot of reading. But an English professor at BU worked with him. As their vision declined over the next few years, he was taught Braille, worked on a novel that was a silly thought in his mind at the start of university, and got himself ready for the impending blindness he knew he would face. Because of his eagerness to get his work out there, his novel Margot Sees Magic was picked up, published, and made NYT Bestsellers List. He couldn’t believe it.

Val was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and lived there for most of his adolescent life. He grew up with 2 sisters he loved very much, and his mum and dad. The five of them were a tightknit family- his father did a lot of traveling for work but he was around often enough, and his mom was a journalist, doing remote work so she could take care of the three kids. His family was never very affluent- they had just enough to get by, with three kids attending school with various hobbies. Benna grew up to be a lawyer in the States, while Ruth created her own art gallery in Ireland. Val always loved his mother’s job and her freedom with words. From a young age, he wanted to write, though he wasn’t sure in what context. But he had a very active imagination, sometimes to a fault- he would play all sorts of silly games with his sisters, and often wore their hand-me-downs to school. Even if he was made fun of, he never really cared. People joked and snarked, but Val was always too witty for his own good. He’d be one step ahead with a snappy comeback before anyone could really ever touch him.

He grew up to be a very fun and spontaneous individual. Val was the life of the party in high school, dating women and men with little care to what was thought of him. He went to University in Ireland for journalism. Val made a lot of friends, and easily- many of them came from classes, others from assorted clubs in college, LGBT events, even penpals. Val did exceptionally well there, participating in a lot of events from karaoke nights, drag nights, and poetry slams, but also doing surprisingly well in school. This was where he started to understand his own gender identity a bit better. However, he noticed that he was having trouble seeing from a distance, including looking at the whiteboard or projector screens at school, and his eyes were blurring seemingly randomly. He tried not to make it a big deal- Val had always been incredibly independent and hated relying on others, to the point where any sign of weakness was pushed down so he didn’t have to think too much about it. But this issue kept arising, and it seemed like his eyesight was getting worse and worse.

After seeing a doctor, he found out that his vision was impaired- and that it would only decline from there. Val was devastated. For a while he didn’t tell anybody. He was ready to keep it a secret, but soon found there was no way he could do that. His grades were failing and he was on a slow decline in his own emotional wellbeing. He finally divulged the truth to his English professor- and after that, a few close friends, all of which rallied around him. His teacher was the first to introduce Braille to him, even recommend accessibility options on his phone and computer. His professor had always been blunt and honest, which Val respected. And she told him that his eyes weren’t going to suddenly improve. And that he could sit and feel sorry for himself and watch as all these things he did so easily suddenly disappeared. Or, he could learn now, while he had time. More audiobooks, more speech-to-text. Typing on a keyboard more and more, getting used to where each key is. She helped him work on a project he’d kept quiet for a long, long time- a fantasy novel he’d been afraid to release out into the world, afraid it’d come back littered in rejections. With her help, he finished a manuscript for his riveting fantasy novel entitled ‘Margot Sees Magic’, and by his graduation, he had a published novel on the shelves of book stores. He couldn’t believe it- he was an author. And not only that, but it had soon reached the YA audiences he’d hoped for. The book hit as a number 1 Bestselling novel on the New York Times list and Val was gobsmacked.

CHARACTER INFORMATION

First Name: Val (full name, Valentine)

Last Name: Dupont

Gender/Pro-nouns: Cis male, He/Him

Date of Birth: 29 years old, March 4th.

Place of Birth: Kilkenny, Ireland.

Current Residence: Notting Hill

Length of Residence: 5 years

Occupation: Author

Faceclaim: Robert Sheehan

Trigger Warnings: None

Are you applying for a wanted connection: No

BIOGRAPHY

Val was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and lived there for most of his adolescent life. He grew up with 2 sisters he loved very much, and his mum and dad. The five of them were a tightknit family- his father did a lot of traveling for work but he was around often enough, and his mom was a journalist, doing remote work so she could take care of the three kids. His family was never very affluent- they had just enough to get by, with three kids attending school with various hobbies. Benna grew up to be a lawyer in the States, while Ruth created her own art gallery in Ireland. Val always loved his mother’s job and her freedom with words. From a young age, he wanted to write, though he wasn’t sure in what context. But he had a very active imagination, sometimes to a fault- he would play all sorts of silly games with his sisters, and often wore their hand-me-downs to school. Even if he was made fun of, he never really cared. People joked and snarked, but Val was always too witty for his own good. He’d be one step ahead with a snappy comeback before anyone could really ever touch him.

He grew up to be a very fun and spontaneous individual. Val was the life of the party in high school, dating women and men with little care to what was thought of him. He moved for college to the States, studying at BU in Boston for journalism. Val made a lot of friends, and easily- many of them stayed in touch through email or letters from Ireland, and new ones came from unexpected places- assorted clubs in college, LGBT events, even penpals. Val did exceptionally well there, participating in a lot of events from karaoke nights,drag nights, and poetry slams, but also doing surprisingly well in school. However, he noticed that he was having trouble seeing from a distance, including looking at the whiteboard or projector screens at school, and his eyes were blurring seemingly randomly. He tried not to make it a big deal- Val had always been incredibly independent and hated relying on others, to the point where any sign of weakness was pushed down so he didn’t have to think too much about it. But this issue kept arising, and it seemed like his eyesight was getting worse and worse.

After seeing a doctor, he found out that his vision was impaired- and that it would only decline from there. Val was devastated. For a while he didn’t tell anybody. He was ready to keep it a secret, but soon found there was no way he could do that. His grades were failing and he was on a slow decline in his own emotional wellbeing. He finally divulged the truth to his English professor- and after that, a few close friends, all of which rallied around him. His teacher was the first to introduce Braille to him, even recommend accessibility options on his phone and computer. His professor had always been blunt and honest, which Val respected. And she told him that his eyes weren’t going to suddenly improve. And that he could sit and feel sorry for himself and watch as all these things he did so easily suddenly disappeared. Or, he could learn now, while he had time. More audiobooks, more speech-to-text. Typing on a keyboard more and more, getting used to where each key is. She helped him work on a project he’d kept quiet for a long, long time- a fantasy novel he’d been afraid to release out into the world, afraid it’d come back littered in rejections. With her help, he finished a manuscript for his riveting fantasy novel entitled ‘Margot Sees Magic’, and by his graduation, he had a published novel on the shelves of book stores. He couldn’t believe it- he was an author. And not only that, but it had soon reached the YA audiences he’d hoped for. The book hit as a number 1 Bestselling novel on the New York Times list and Val was gobsmacked.