needsaspirin

Name: Erik Gelden
Door: Door pass

Canon: Jessica Jones (Marvel TV)
Canon Point: S.3 E.13

Age: Mid 30s
Appearance: here

History: MCU wiki
Personality: Erik is extremely an easy-going personality, displaying a kind of roguish charm and a laid back attitude. His mode of speech is nearly always even, casual, and often playfully sarcastic. Even when stressed or angry his tone hardly ever raises about a shout. This is far more than a manner of speech, as Erik takes everything from changes in plans to being rescued from near death with a strange kind of stride. Similarly, he displays a stunning lack of egotism when it comes to accepting his failures and being the weaker person in a situation, showing not an ounce of concern that he’s less strong or capable than either Jessica or Trish. However, this can also make him far too permissive of wrong-doings. This is because he’s also highly cynical, a trait born out of his disastrous first attempt at trying to do the right thing. He actively rejects the idea of justice because he can literally sense all the darkness in the world, and tends to feel overburdened by it. This is why he takes to gambling and blackmail, because it makes sense to him to manipulate the darkness in others for his own gain.

However, Erik is also very empathetic in ways that extend beyond his powers. He cares deeply about people - or at least chiefly his sister. He moves to New York - a huge city brimming with the kind of darkness that he’d prefer to avoid - to keep an eye on her. In addition, he’s adept at reading emotions (he can sense that something bad had happened with Jessica’s mother without her saying a word) and is sensitive to the needs of individuals. He brings Jessica medicine and food when she’s injured and gives her the space she requires without any complaint. The layer of purpose-built cynicism he wears is meant to insulate himself from the fact that he knows that people in the world are suffering and that bothers him.

Unfortunately, Erik is also highly avoidant. His first instinct in many situations is to protect himself. He isn’t a hero and will avoid confrontation whenever he can, meaning he often runs from fights and socially withdraws when people are upset at him, the extreme side of his easy-going nature. He allows a single failure earlier in life to discourage him almost entirely from trying to be a good person. He is often selfish, and makes the decision to not turn himself in to help put away Sallinger because he (perhaps justifiably) fears pain and death, and isn’t willing to risk it even for the greater good.

Erik is also an addict - one of his many unhealthy coping mechanisms he’s developed to deal with his near constant pain. He’s a functional alcoholic and drinks often throughout the day, but also finds relief in sex and gambling as well. While he doesn’t name it as a vice, it’s also seems that he enjoys fine food to round out his semi-hedonistic lifestyle. Erik is quick to self-medicate once he experiences any spike in his pain, and doesn’t tend to think about anything else but that until he’s done so. Erik is very self-aware of these tendencies, however, and it’s clear that the rush he experiences upon the sudden lifting of pain resulting from the deaths of Nussbaumer and Montero could very well become something he could be addicted to if he let it.

This is because, ultimately, Erik actually has some principals. For all his cynicism and generally unethical behavior, he honestly believes in good and evil. We don’t know for sure what Erik’s powers sense precisely, but it’s telling that this is how he chooses to define it. He doesn’t care about breaking the law to help clear Trish, but Nussbaumer’s continued transgressions (in part allowed because Erik had decided to look the other way and profit off it instead) clearly bothered him enough to team up with her to try and correct it. However, he’s horrified enough by the deaths of the two men to turn against Trish and join up with Jessica to stop her. He also believes in Jessica’s goodness enough that he’s willing, at the end, to work to regain her trust.

Powers and Abilities: Powers/Permission here
Inventory: Bottle of bourbon, hip flask

Samples: TDM 1
TDM 2