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Algernon Fynn
The Mole
Algernon Fynn
The Mole
35
Cisgender man (he/him)
Algernon Fynn Meyer. When he fled Kauff he dropped his surname and started going by Algernon Fynn.
Algie, Mr. Fynn, Uncle Algernon, Algernon Meyer
It's Complicated
Dirroh
Algernon
With Mustaches
Al-ger-non (hard G as opposed to a soft G
Fynn
Fair
Finn
Meyer
Overseer
My-er
Goes by Algernon Fynn because he finds it more elegant-sounding than Meyer. Because of this, Tabitha Meyer takes longer to make the connection of their relationship.
Named after Algernon from The Importance of Being Earnest.
Human
Tall and a bit pudgy
A bit above average
Pale
6'4"
Brown
Blue-grey
Around shoulder length, usually pulled halfway up.
None
As someone involved in espionage stuff, he's racked up a decent amount of scarring:
- Fairly grisly scar on his right hip from being shot; it missed the bone but left a long, jagged wound that Launce patched up. Since this was around 5-7 years before the main story, it's mostly healed, but sometimes he still has lingering pain and very rarely uses a cane.
- A few smaller but similarly rough looking scars across his right side. The first shot missed him but wrecked a window, and so when the second shot hit him and his leg gave out, he landed fairly heavily on glass shards.
- Stabbed in the stomach during the mission that pretty much made him give up spying and solely turn to smuggling information; he was patched up by Kitty Lune but the experience left him shaken enough to pull out of that type of mission.
Algernon is the tallest human in the cast and cuts a striking figure. He has a soft build but not in a very noticeable way. Oval face, thin lips often tugged into a smirk or a smug grin, long and tall nose, light blue eyes, dark eyebrows. Smooth skin (he waxes instead of shaving) and has soft, slightly wavy hair that he often keeps half-up half-down. From the end of the first arc onwards, he has a scar trailing from cheekbone to temple on the right side of his face--if the ship hadn't been hit at the right moment, he would've lost the eye. He's pretty and he knows it, and he also won't shut up about it.
Algernon has a very smooth and charismatic voice that you can't help but listen to. He's shaved off any semblance of a Kauffan accent to instead have a slight upper-class affect, a bit like a very toned down Transatlantic accent.
Elegant yet functional style, wears three rings on his left hand (one from his sister, one from his fiance, and one of his own), keeps at least one of his pearl-gripped pistols strapped to his thigh.
He has what in hindsight is a clear resemblance to Tabitha Meyer: the same pale complexion, blue-grey eyes, hair color, and general way of holding themselves.
From the second arc onwards, Algernon has a scar trailing from his cheekbone on the right side of his face up to his temple.
Algernon dresses in mostly black and white with some splashes of color when he feels they fit. Black slacks, black shoes, a white button-up with a black vest, and over it all, a black longcoat. Twin holsters on either thigh for his pearl-handled pistols. Three rings on his right hand--one is a simple silver band from Launce, one is a thin and ragged metal that almost looks like twine with a small red stone from Marie, and one is a silver ring with a large oval black stone set in it, in homage to Clive Carlyle. Single gold earring. Occasionally uses a cane, but that was more frequent in his late 20s when his wound bothered him more.
Algernon's personality toes the line between charismatic and manipulative. He's charming and affable but also vain. He has a fairly loose moral system and is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to stay on top. Ruthless, though not to the degree of Tabitha Meyer. He's the kind of person who is rarely 100% serious and often deflects his worries with attempts at jokes. He values his appearance and places a lot of emphasis on presenting himself as elegant and refined, due in part to his own insecurities both in regards to his appearance and his status, although the former lessens with time. He is deeply loyal to the few he trusts and does genuinely do his best to get along with others, if only so he has more allies. Even though his personality is a bit of an acquired taste, Algernon is a good person to have in your corner, and generally a good person to spend time with.
Algernon has the body language of a person who somehow makes themself comfortable in every room they're in and finds themself to be the cleverest in it. He's cultivated it to be this way, very relaxed and familiar with lots of hand gestures and calculated laughter. And it works.
Incredibly charismatic and persuasive. Can throw and take a punch, even if he doesn't like to. While not an excellent shot to the degree of Clare Remmik, he has more hits than misses.
As a teenager, his sole motivation was to get off of Kauff. In his early 20s, it was to expose government corruption on Wols. Now, in his 30s, it's to keep his head above the water and try to slip the rebels information when he can, though he'll play both sides if he has to.
Homoromatic
Homosexual
Sagittarius
ENTP (Debater)
Fawn. If he's in a bad situation, Algernon will do anything possible to ensure his own survival. His Gift gives him a leg up in fawning because if he plays his cards right he can convince them to let him go.
Generally spends most of his time either working his day job, doing spy work, or managing his club. He also models for Launce's art, whether it's painting or sculpting.
Vain, manipulative, willing to willfully mislead others and has no qualms with lying. Less ruthless than his niece, but still more than the average person. He attempts to cover up his own insecurities with semi-performative overconfidence, and has a tendency towards nervous laughter.
Fairly on-edge around people he knows are from Chora or Yeley, as those planets tend to be very socially conservative.
As he eventually discovers, he has a Gift for charm and persuasion--unlike the students, he never had a formal evaluation or any sort of training, and would therefore use his Gift to a lesser extent during his espionage (similar to how Eliot Mercer subconsciously used his during his escape from Chora as a child). In hindsight, he realizes that--had he known more about how Gifts manifest--he would've recognized it sooner, as his persuasiveness had gotten him out of multiple situations he realistically shouldn't have evaded and he would frequently get headaches after finishing a mission, something he chalked up to stress.
Born on Kauff less than a year after his older sister Marie. The two spent most of their childhoods diving for oysters and treasures lost at sea to make money, but never had much. He went off-planet once he turned 19 and–while initially quite awkward and out of place–soon grew to fit Wols like a glove, managing to charm benefactors into paying for him to attend university.
Initially he took a government position but swiftly became disillusioned with the rampant corruption and, on a more personal level, the pressure from his mentors to stay closeted so as to avoid causing any sort of stir. He then turned to spying, compiling dozens of documents that expose the various crimes of other officials
Secretly bought and renovated a collapsing hotel with historical significance as far as the queer community in-universe.
Along the way, he befriended Launce Corcoran , a man a year or two older than him who agreed to show him the ropes. The two tentatively began to confide in each other about their dissatisfaction with the government and eventually began running missions on behalf of the rebellion, mostly by smuggling papers off-planet. The two had mutual feelings for some time, but only truly confessed them when Algernon was shot by a city official and Launce came to his aid--in that moment, both of them realized what the other meant. As galactic tensions began to rise, Launce began to take more frequent off-planet missions while Algernon was more or less stuck on Wols. During one bit of espionage, Algernon was ambushed and brutally stabbed; had he not stumbled upon Kitty Lune , he would have died. He recovered, but the incident left him so shaken that he swore off of that degree of spying.
A few years later, he meets a new student at the Academy: Tabitha Meyer, his late sister's daughter. Algernon slowly begins to work with her as tensions at the Academy--and in the galaxy at large--rise, although he doesn't initially reveal to her that they are related.
December 15th
Ilia and Tobias Meyer
Art credit to the Ravntawn's unfinished pcrew Picrew by Ravnawwn
- Live, Laugh, Love from Follies, specifically the version from the 2018 National Theatre recording, although in the sense that the lines are delivered with just a smidge of sarcasm since he very much did shove his way to the top. The breakdown at the end in this version is more accurate to Algernon's personality than in the 2011 recording of the song, and really captures the moment he realizes that he's flown too close to the sun with his government work.
- Talent from Road Show: by his own admission, Algernon is not very artistically inclined yet loves to partake in the arts (after all, his fiance is an artist and a sculptor and Algernon himself does sing a bit) and his pursuit of upkeeping the Golden Iris is not entirely dissimilar from Hollis' idea of forming an artists' colony. Wols has a rich history of talented artists and that's part of what draws Algernon to it.
- Mein Herr, Maybe This Time, and Cabaret from Cabaret (with Liza Minnelli singing them, duh): Algernon is not as willfully ignorant of his surroundings as Sally Bowles is, but he shares her general mindset of "the world may be crumbling so I might as well sing--after all, it can't make it worse". Mein Herr is a song he'd perform and fits with the persona he throws out about himself where he's some sort of heartbreaker, as well as his tendency to back out of situations before they ramp up in intensity ("you're better off without me/you'll get on without me"); Maybe This Time is closer to the inner monologue he'd never share with anyone--"maybe this time I'll be lucky/maybe this time he'll stay/maybe this time, for the first time/love won't hurry away/he will hold me fast/I'll be home at last/not a loser anymore/like the last time and the time before" is very much how he felt when he realized he was really falling for Launce (made all the more sad in hindsight by the fact that Launce has to leave for their own goods); and Cabaret is the attitude he puts up even as everything seems to be falling apart around him (for this one, I'd recommend the one where Natasha Richardson is Sally as it's more uneasy).
- Money, Money, Money cover by Brian David Gilbert: okay this is literally not possible since his universe doesn't have mummies but it's the vibe! It's the smokey cabaret feel! "Money, money, money/must be funny/in a rich man's world" sums up his early years and the "if I found me a wealthy man" line is definitely something he'd throw a wink to the audience with if he sang this.
His rings--one a Carlylin black ring, one from his sister Marie, and one from his fiance Launce Corcoran
Launce Corcoran
Launce Corcoran (fiance)
Tabitha Meyer (niece)
Something sleek, like a black cat or a snake
His pearl-handled twin pistols.
Formerly a spy, but he's since retired from espionage--for the most part, anyways. Now he just pushes papers and oversees a historically relevant club.
As a child, he imagined Wols as a paradise, only to have a sharp awakening when he arrived that it wasn't what it seemed. He allies with the rebellion, but not really out of a strong political belief.
Agnostic
Anything dark, but specifically wine-red, navy blue, and plum purple
Tea cakes