User Profile

PLEASE NOTE: This is a fictional character created and copyrighted by Neil Gaiman for the Sandman graphic novels. I (zephie) am only playing her for dementia_rpg, which is all for creative fun. I'm not pretending to actually be Delirium. That would be silly.

To other Dementia players; I love roleplaying and all, but I have to warn you, I'm in the Netherlands, so timezones can get in the way of prompt responses on logs and such. Sorry!


Character Information
Name: Delirium
Fandom: The Sandman (graphic novel by Neil Gaiman)
Age: Real age unknown, but looks about 13 years old.
Gender: Female.

Room: 1D -- Roommates: Rita [igneus_laqueum] - Sekai Saionji [imtheworld] - Mio Amakura [theremaining]
Therapist: Death [aroadtoawe]
Doctor: Sara [hvit_stoy]

Personality:
Despite her appearance of a teenage girl, many would guess Delirium's (or Del) personality to be that of a much younger mind. In neither speech nor action does she follow any type of plan or pattern – her scatterbrained self is too easily distracted and forgetful to remain with a single subject for too long, and her thoughts don't always seem to follow along the same rails traveled by everybody else's train. Her child-like wonder at the world often brings her to offbeat observations and quaint remarks, inserted at any time in any conversation, whether relevant or not so much. Energetic and wild up to the point of mania, she's more likely to act on impulse rather than take matters in good consideration first – giving voice to flighty trails of thought, not always considering whether it might be appropriate to mention at that time, or even whether it really exists or not. She'll speak of creating her own butterflies or flying fish at will, or having a talking dog as her companion – who is, to everyone else's eyes, merely a wheeled dog toy that she pulls along after her on a string.

With the way her attention flits from one thing to the other so easily, she's often seen as being nonsensical and childish, having no sense of self-control or logic and seeming to go on about topics that have nothing to do with matters at hand, or things don't seem to be real to begin with. Consequently, few take her seriously, and although most of the time Del seems oblivious to this fact, there are moments when her frustrations of not being heard take the upper hand, causing her to throw a fit at whomever appears to think themselves better than her at that time. Likewise, she might set her mind on something that nobody should want to disallow, or she'll be upset once again and spend her time sulking like a spoiled child.

However, not only do Delirium's thoughts wander – her moods change on the smallest whim as well, and these bouts of angst and anger rarely last long. From surly and stubborn one moment, to cheery and charming the next, Del is ever-changing; even her way of speaking seems to reflect this, as her intonation and volume adjusts with every new word uttered to express the emotions she wears on her sleeve, so easily read in her eyes, one bright emerald green and the other vein blue. Her clothing style seems as random as herself – often mismatched and two-three sizes too big, with hair that varies in cut and colour nearly as much of her moods.

Del's chaotic mindset results in her dependency on those she respects as her elders, primarily her six older siblings who have looked after her for as long as she can remember. When given their advice, she'll often go with whatever she's told, ever so naive. But even with her need for someone to watch over her, Del does have her own moments of clarity. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible for her to set her mind to a certain task, to calm the swirling thoughts and distill a sense of rationality, in which she knows exactly what is going on and surprises many with the suddenly adult and sensible manner she uses to react. Although these moments seem to be few and far between, perhaps even unpleasant to her, they are enough to show that there is more to the world that Delirium understands and knows than she's willing to show at all times.

History:
Not much is known about Delirium's past. She was born as the youngest of seven children in one family, and while it's assumed by outsiders that she and her siblings must have (had) parents, she has never mentioned them – in fact, she seems to have no recollection of any family outside of her six siblings. When asked about her parents, she'll only talk about her brother Destruction and sister Death, both of whom seem to have taken up the parental duties concerning their baby sister. Whatever her family's origins or the odd way they were each named, it's obvious that Del puts much value in the relationships she has with her siblings, even the ones that seem more distant from her such as her brother Dream.

But there is one thing of her past that Del does remember all too well: Before Delirium, there was Delight.

In her early years, Del was much more of a carefree, genuinely happy girl – the epitome of innocent joy, reveling in all the new things she saw and learned of the world. She brought smiles to the faces of all those who caught sight of her, and laughter followed her everywhere she went. Men and women alike were easily charmed by the way she enjoyed life to the fullest, encouraging those around her to do the same. But, somewhere along the way, something broke. Something fell apart in this shiny, sparkling image, and it left her falling away from Delight, the scattered pieces of her mind gathering only to become Delirium, with all her erratic and manic behaviour.

What happened exactly to cause this fall, this definitive change in Del's character, is unknown. Del knows, but nobody else does – not even Destiny, her eldest brother thought to be the wisest of them all, claims any knowledge of this fact. It's been hidden so deep within the fragmented folds of Del's inner world, that nobody – even professionally trained therapists – were able to get at it, and most have given up on trying.

Around this time, Delirium began to spend more of her time either locked up in her own room at the house her siblings shared, or wandering out among the streets, often roaming for so long that she would forget to return home at night. She would sit with the homeless, talk to wandering pets, go from one place to another without any particular goal. She would start rambling about crazy things she would see or 'create', like images from a child's dream come true. Her moods began to swing, her attention began to drift more and more – her inherent mania showing now through the cracks.

Her family worried about these random exploits of hers – after all, she was still only a young girl, with no notion of what could be in wait for her outside the protective walls of her realm. But Destruction was the only one who would take it upon himself to seek her out when she was on one of her many trips out into the world, and guide her back to safety. He was the one she could always fall back on.

Up until the day that he announced, to all of his siblings' surprise, that he was moving away. He had called the whole family together to explain that he was leaving – but despite her likely shock, Delirium was just quiet, curled up on the wooden chair at the dinner table, a surly look on her face her only reaction to this news. Her older brother departed, and she was – even with her remaining siblings to look after her – left to fend for herself. She took up her random wanderings again, moreso than before, traveling farther than she had earlier... tugging along after her, the wooden dog on rollers that was the only thing Destruction had left her, before he went out into the unknown. Some might think that Del was out attempting to find her brother, even though he'd specifically told all of them not to follow him. Others would say that Del's wanderlust was completely unrelated to her brother's leaving, and merely a continuation of her earlier emerging symptoms.

And eventually, during one of her many explorations, she came across Ravenshold Hospital. Curiosity got a hold of her and she ventured onto the grounds, somehow managing to get past the security measures – the way she kept talking to her toy dog, a one-sided conversation that seemed like she truly believed the dog was answering back, had probably fooled any guards into thinking she was already a part of the patient population and needed to be brought back inside.

It wasn't until later that day, that the mistaken assumption was found out. The young girl was brought in, asked what she was doing there and if perhaps she meant to check herself in – and as she found herself quite enjoying the hospital and its varying range of occupants, whom seemed to be not too far off from her own state of mind, she said yes, she did want to check herself in.

All in all, Delirium probably doesn't fully realise what the hospital and its purposes entail – although her own symptoms and disorders may seem clear to anyone else who meets her, she simply seems to think it's fun to live somewhere she can be among other crazies, misfits, and loners. Or maybe, in that same hidden part of her mind that knows what turned her around from being Delight so suddenly, she does very well know what she's in this ward for herself. Perhaps she even believes she might benefit from the services and support offered there. But for now, she's more than happy just to roam these hallways and spend time with her fellow inhabitants, to discover what madness she can find lurking in others' minds outside of her own.

Symptoms:
- Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): This is one of the first things anyone would notice about Delirium – her inability to keep her attention focused on anything for longer than a handful of seconds is a dead give-away, plus her impulsiveness. She'll flit from one thing to another within the wink of her eye, depending on whatever happens to catch her flighty attention next.
- Schizoaffective Disorder: Del seems to be in a state of permanent mania, swinging to depression once in a while when things aren't going her way, along with having visual and auditory hallucinations of all kinds, for example believing her toy dog to be a live, talking animal named Barnabas. She also carries around a number of delusions that she has the power to manipulate reality and create things, like flying fish on a string, which she then believes to be actually there, when nobody else can see them.
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Nobody but Del knows what turned her from Delight into Delirium, but her inability to speak of this to anyone plus the many symptoms she developed shortly after this turn of events, makes it likely for her to have suffered some kind of trauma resulting from it. She simply refuses to talk about it, although she admits to knowing what happened and what she was like before the change.

Friends (52):

Mutual Friends (28):