InsaneJournal

Height: 5'2
Weight: 7 stone; 98 lb
Build: small, wispy build
Eyes: bluish greenish grey with the traces of goldish brown
Hair: blondish reddish brown and horribly untidy
Handedness: right
Eyesight: Better suited for darkness; she has somewhat poor vision when it's bright

Physically: Healthy, if a little underweight (suffers from a very erratic appetite). Wide scar on her left arm (from being mugged/stabbed). Generally sturdy, though hardly resembling anything like powerful. Exceptional immune system.

Dress: haphazard; Door tends to layer tights and pants and vests and shirts and corsets and coats of varying quality and ruin. She's quite content with her bizarre appearance, and doesn't think she looks homeless at all - or, if she does, likes it. Since her arrival at the hospital, she tends to stay in her pyjamas most of the time, buried in an oversized jacket.

Appearance: Door has a sort of childish grace to her - in that she isn't really graceful at all. Small, elfin features and startlingly pale skin might give the impression of a china doll, but her messy hair and bizarre clothes make her look less precious and more like a homeless girl who's spent far too much time out of the sun - which is precisely what she's spent much of her time doing.

Possessions: A small statue of a boar - roughly cut from obsidian (allowed access to this only under supervision), a paperback of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, a small key on a necklace, and a hair ribbon.

Manner of speech: Matter-of-fact, relatively good-natured, and earnest. Door can be very gentle when speaking with animals, very affectionate with those she considers close friends, but her typical speech is serious, straightforward, and honest. Her received pronunciation is littered with odd fragments of dialects that she's picked up while homeless.

Impressions: Door gives an impression of strange normalcy, and she fits the contradiction well. She's not overly excitable, she's not histrionic, and she isn't defiant. Her language and thought process appears mostly straightforward to the casual observer, and she's reasonably compliant with most requests by those in authoritative positions. It is this patent normalcy that makes her delusions all the more unsettling, for she is calm and certain about what she believes in - unshakeably so. She's tolerant and mild with those who question those beliefs, as she expects scepticism.

Mannerisms: Door's affect can sometimes be a bit unpredictable; she is emotionally responsive to fear, anger, and loneliness, but tends to lack appropriate response to memories of her family's murder and other potentially traumatic stimuli. She has few mannerisms or idiosyncrasies that would garner attention, though she is prone to pulling out her copy of Mansfield Park whenever feeling uncomfortable, even when reading is not entirely appropriate behaviour (such as during a therapy session). She's known to be quite affectionate with those who matter to her.

Personality: If it weren't for Door's utter saturation with the 'reality' of her delusions, she'd be quite the normal, if overly mature, seventeen year old. Door ordinarily has a healthy sense of humour, an interest in boys, and an exceptional curiosity. At worst, she might have been called a bit sassy and dispassionate, at best witty and pragmatic. As it is, however, she's a bit worn from this whole assassination business. It's difficult for her to find the humour in situations, or if she does find humour in situations, it is typically during the wrong moment. Her 'sassiness' has turned to pessimism, and she sometimes lacks patience with those who are slow to keep up with what is going on. Her curiosity has dimmed in favour of survival, though her arrival at the asylum has had a small healing effect in this regard. She is determined, stubborn, brave, and single-minded, all of which are useful when one has a task to accomplish – not so much when one is meant to be recovering from an illness one doesn't know one has.

Disorder: Paranoid schizophrenia, including delusional misidentification syndrome. Currently in full blown psychosis.

Symptoms: Door meets the criteria for paranoid schizophrenia because of multiple delusions and hallucinations related to the persecution of herself and her family. Her psychosis also extends to the fantasy world she has created to explain this persecution and cope with her homelessness following the murder of her family. Delusional misidentification is only one of the several delusions under which Door is operating. She is convinced that the dead girl the police claim is her sister is an imposter, and that her sister is really alive somewhere (either escaped or kidnapped by her parents' assassins).

Doctor: Dagmar

Likes: Rats, pigeons, most animals really, keys, puzzle boxes, clothes, ribbons, Jane Austen, flea markets, London, sewers, the homeless, honesty, enclosed spaces, darkness, curry

Dislikes: Cats, men in suits, snobs, money, angels, mobile phones, blood, soap, sunlight, the great outdoors, white walls, sterility

Strengths: Bravery, kindness, generally good humor, curiosity, empathy, compassion.

Weaknesses: Passive, easily led, poor judge of character, picky eater, poor judge of danger, attraction to violent personalities.

Phobias: Phengophobia (daylight)

Status: single
Sexuality: heterosexual, probably
Past relationships: none of consequence

Friends: Dagmar, Dorothy

Enemies: Lucy (van Pelt)

Character: The Lady Door

Tale: Neverwhere is an urban fantasy set in modern London. London 'below' is a civilization that exists beneath 'real' London, an amalgamation of various time periods and people who have 'slipped beneath the cracks' of London. People live in the sewers, in railway cars on disused train tracks, and in small pockets of time that have spilled over from London above. Those who live in London Below also have special skills, like speaking to rats or pigeons, telekinesis, keeping their souls separate from their bodies, or, in Door's case, opening things.

Door is a woman whose family has been murdered by a pair of assassins while she was away exploring the 'underside' - her sister is the only person she doesn't find. When the assassins come after her, she's badly wounded and 'opens' a portal into London Above, right into the arms of Richard Mayhew, who helps her out. She enlists the aid of the Marquis de Carabas and Hunter, a famous bodyguard, to help protect her and help her find out who murdered her family. She's pursued by Croup and Vandemar, the assassins who are working for a secret entity. They want to capture her so that she can open a very special door.

Underworlders can be seen by upworlders, but only if they are 'noticed' - otherwise they're just ignored. They don't exist anymore in upworld.

History: Portico and Portia Templeton had an existence that could best be called idyllic; nestled in the heart of a thriving London, they raised three children - Archie, Doreen, and Ingress. In the spirit of true Liberalism, the children were schooled from home, an undertaking the Templetons approached with delight and fervour, if not a disciplined hand. Doreen (or Door, as she liked to be called at an early age) believed more strongly in the spirit of freedom than that of learning, and often escaped her lessons to take to the outdoors. London was hardly a place for a young girl to roam, but roam she did, all the while managing to avoid any sorts of trauma or danger. Perhaps it was luck that kept her safe - or perhaps simply a natural ability to blend in to her surroundings. "People don't even notice you if you don't make them," she'd announce to her brother and sister upon her return, covered in filth and smelling of Lord knew what.

Even at a young age there were signs that 'something' was wrong with Door. She wasn't outwardly bizarre or socially impaired, but she seemed extraordinarily adept at losing track of time. Hours would turn into days, and days would pass in seconds - it was on more than one occasion that Door was returned home by a friendly police officer, swearing she hadn't been away from home more than an hour or two. Portico and Portia dubbed it a phase and continued to let their wayward child do as she saw fit. She generally came home in a timely manner, and never with a scratch upon her.

It was upon one of these returns home that Door's entire life changed. The house was incredibly quiet, and she, over-excited by the news she brought home (another imaginary tale to spin for her siblings), practically tripped over her brother as she fled through the sitting room. He was dead. Blood was everywhere. She could do nothing but stare. When finally she dragged herself through the rest of the house, she found her mother, throat slit, amid the plants of the conservatory. Her father was in his study, bashed over the head. Everything of value was gone. Door cleaned up.

The psychotic break that followed set everything clear in Door's mind. Her family had not been the victim of a robbery, but a carefully planned attack. She would be next. When the police came days upon days later (Portico's work had called, unable to raise a response from the family) - they found the butchered family and all evidence carefully scrubbed away. Door was found on the streets, where she'd been propositioning hookers for the position of bodyguard - she needed protection from the assassins who had targeted her family. Police questioning seemed fruitless; she insisted she'd been living in "London Below," she insisted her sister had been kidnapped, that she was next. That the police couldn't help her. "You're upworlders," she repeated endlessly, as though that provided ample explanation as to their incompetence. The discovery of her sister's body had no apparent impact upon her. "It isn't her," she insisted. It was an impostor. A look-alike. She knew her sister, and the dead girl simply wasn't her. The police scolded her for her lack of cooperation. The therapists patted her and told her denial was a normal stage of grief. Door said she couldn't grieve for a stranger.

The next few months passed in a whirlwind of investigations and interrogations and therapy and confusion. Despite Door's best efforts to tidy her home, evidence enough was found to release her, though not to convict any probable suspects. Her release terrified her; she'd be caught and killed - she had to find a bodyguard. She had to understand why her parents had been murdered. Left with a caring aunt, Door's first move was escape, and for months she hid among the homeless of London, weaving herself into the world she'd created so long ago. London below was home to those who'd 'slipped through the cracks' - and she was a Lady there.

The Lady Door.

Door's luck finally ran out. While on the streets, she was mugged and stabbed and eventually picked up by a concerned citizen (his name was Richard); she tried to make him understand that someone was trying to kill her, that she had to contact her friends in London Below - but he seemed to think it a better idea to call the police, who had her hospitalised. Door's aunt had quite lost interest in attempting to care for her, but she didn't mind paying the plane ticket to have Door sent to America - to an institution she'd heard of from a very nice Doctor-type. Door hardly had a choice.

Though she's been torn away from her world, Door isn't fully cognizant of the differences in surroundings. She feels she can recognise the upworld from the world below, but her psychosis makes it nearly impossible for her to actually tell the difference. A small cove in this wing of the hospital or a wall in that wing might seem to her a part of Below, and she tends to incorporate people and things around her to fit these delusions.  

• Richard Mayhew - the hero - male/female
Whether Door likes it or not, this person knows precisely the right thing to do at the right time - usually unintentionally. He or she is the person who brings out her affectionate side, gets her out of a tight spot at the last possible second, or makes her smile precisely when its needed. Door isn't sure whether she loves this person or not (familially or otherwise), but she knows she gets on best with them around.

• Ingress Templeton - the little sister - yellow__bricks
A whisper of Door's family, the Sister draws much of Door's attention. This person is needy, vulnerable, and afraid - the perfect person for Door to soothe, comfort, and dote upon. Their relationship is shallower than Door will admit, for she has no desire to help this person grow out of their fears or mature, only to treat them as the perpetual child she sees them as.

• Marquis de Carabas - the protector - marionetic
This person is one of the few whom Door trusts. She doesn't trust them to be scrupulous or especially sane, but to be consistent and, dare she say it, predictable. She trusts this person to take care of her and occasionally views him as a warped father figure. He's not kind or gracious, but there is a certain nobility that is inexplicable and undeniable. She knows he'll keep her out of harm's way when he's able.

• Hunter - the traitor - male/female
Despite Door's perceptiveness, she can't help but make a few bad decisions. Trusting this person is one of them. In all outward appearances, this person has the makings of a friend, taking care of Door, encouraging her delusions, and cultivating her dependence. Inwardly, this person has no higher motive but self-gain and will use Door to get precisely what he or she desires. Of course, there is always the possibility he or she will see reason in the end...

• Hammersmith - the ally - edisjust
A true friend; Door feels utterly at ease with this person, even if she doesn't completely trust him or her. There is a mutual respect for talents and an enjoyment of the simplicity of pure friendship.
 

• Lamia - the corrupter - mad__cat
Door pays little attention to her relationship with this person, but she should, because her influence is subtle and vicious. If it were not for the hero and the protector, Door would likely be led easily astray by him or her, because she is fascinated by this person's cleverness, beauty or charm.

• Croup and Vandemar - the bullies - pelt & male/female
Door sees these two as dangerous, aggressive, and frighteningly efficient. She fears and hates them and makes it a point to stay as far away as possible. Though her instinct is to escape whenever possible, when cornered by these two she is quite capable of being driven to violence.

• Angel Islington - the predator - _clockwork
This person knows precisely how to prey upon Door's confusion, desires, and trust - for gain, for sport, or for whatever reason he or she sees fit to act out upon. Door sees this person as powerful, or mysterious, or as a source of wisdom & comfort - and she doesn't realize (until too late) what is really going on.