Percy

## Percy Ferris

Postboy

> *"I guess you have to be brave to say goodbye to someone, too."*
>
>

Percy’s origins are shrouded in mystery. He was found abandoned on an alleyway doorstep in England. Once he no longer needed constant care, he was moved to a proper children's home, which happened to be located near a railway line. Percy loved to watch the trains go by. Whenever he expressed an interest in driving them, his peers laughed at him and said he was too tiny to ever do that. By age 9, Percy had heard of the railways on the Island of Sodor and desperately wanted to visit. He wrote a letter to Sir Topham Hatt, who then invited him to pursue his interest by enrolling in his Shining Time Boarding School, and thus Percy was introduced to the railway. He became quick friends with Thomas and is rather content where he is.  When he grows up, Percy wants to run his own mail train service.

 Biography

### *Past*

Percy was born in Wales and brought into England by his single Egyptian mother. She was a sex worker and didn't want to raise him in that environment. In fact, she didn't want to raise a child at all. But she had to return to Egypt and wasn't sure what else to do besides leave him in someone else's care and hope for the best.

However, none of this is known to anyone within the story's universe. Percy was found abandoned on an alleyway doorstep in Winchester, England. His birthplace and where he or his family came from is a complete mystery. Once he was discovered, he was taken to a hospital where he was kept until he no longer needed constant care and could be moved to a proper children's home.

His care home was located near a railway line and Percy loved to watch the trains go by. He developed a keen interest in them, as well as the postal system.

In his self-driven research, he found out about the Island of Sodor and how it hosts the largest heritage railway in the world- albeit with very few engines at the time. He was about 6 at the time.

He wrote a letter to Topham saying how much he likes trains and wants to drive one when he grows up and how badly he wanted to see the railway but couldn't go.

A month later, Percy got a letter back.

* Topham said he could come to visit and receive a personal tour
* Percy's carer took him to the railway and met with Topham
* Topham had something come up (it was Gordon and Henry and James pitching a fit about having to fetch their own coaches), so he asked if Edward could give him the tour
* Edward offered to take Percy (and his carer) with him throughout the day while he did his jobs
* Edward let him come on the footplate of his engine and started to tell him what everything was, but Percy was so excited he started naming off all the "tools"(??) with surprising accuracy. Edward commended him on this
* A short time later, Henry out of a bitter meeting with Topham and made a rude remark asking why Edward needed a toddler to help him
* In response, Percy literally just...hissed at him. Children do weird things
* Everyone was shocked, Henry jumped and went the other way
* Edward wasn't sure what to say and gaped for a moment before spluttering out "How beautifully you hissed at him!" and laughing
* Percy loved the tour so much he asked if he could stay there. Obviously he was told he couldn't, but away from Percy, Topham brings up the fact that there's technically a care home on Sodor, it's just inactive, but there was another orphaned child he knew of that was in close relation with the railway (Thomas)
* Says it's a long shot but he was thinking of reopening the care home
* Percy went home and life returned to normal
* Half a year later, Percy is asked if he's still interested in living on Sodor
* yes he is
* He says goodbye to his friends at his current care home and his social agent (check what the actual term is) escorts him to the new house
* At age 7, Percy had settled in the Shining Time care home and enrolled in the Tidmouth Comprehensive School
* At the Shining Time care home, he and Thomas shared a room. They were originally put together to keep each other company, since Percy had just moved and Thomas had lost his parents the previous year. They quickly became very good friends

### *Present*

Percy likes working on Sir Topham Hatt's railway and wishes everything would stay as it is. It won't though, and he's painfully aware of this as Thomas' university years grow nearer and nearer.

### *Future*

He wants to stay working on the railway. He'll come to be known as "Uncle Percy" to the future children of the railway, including but not limited to Lacey and Iris. He'll also run the Sodor Postal Service.

## Occupation

### *Past jobs*

Percy's a bit young to have had any "real" job, but at his care homes he would always volunteer to post letters, and took it upon himself to personally deliver any mail directly to its recipient in the house.

### *Current job*

Percy technically works for the Sodor Postal Service *and* has an apprenticeship on the railway. Every week morning at 6 o'clock, he sets out on his bike to retrieve his load of mail and deliver it to the railway recipients' letterboxes in the Tidmouth common room. (check the phrasing of this??) He's in charge of receiving, handling, and delivering mail sent from railway fans, a.k.a. the story's audience, to himself and his friends. He and Thomas occasionally take the mail train together with either the No. 1 or the No. 6.

Percy and Thomas often argue over who gets to drive and who gets to fire– while under supervision, of course. The roles are usually decided through a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors."

## Relationships

### *Familial*

He has no known biological relations. He considers Thomas his brother and looks up to many of the adults as parental figures, namely Edward, Topham, Duck, and Toby.

### *Platonic*

Percy likes to be friends with anyone he meets, even his so-called rival Harold. He was a little threatened by Ryan at first, nervous again that he'd be replaced as Thomas' best friend, but he's good friends with him now and they regularly hang out. The three of them call their friend group the "Tanker Tots."

### *Romantic*

When Gator visited the railway, Percy developed a schoolboy crush on him. Thomas teased him relentlessly for this, but Percy would get his chance for revenge when Thomas fell for Ryan. Percy denies any lingering feelings for Gator, though this isn't true.

### *Negative*

Percy is known for being friends with everyone and has few misgivings with anyone. Percy can let go of rudeness very easily because he doesn't take many things personal. Even insults to himself or his small engine he can let go of. Harold, however, insulted *railways* by calling them "slow and out of date" he insulted something Percy cares very much about. It's this combined with Harold's continuous jabs that keeps Percy's grudge alive.

## Current Design

### *Personality*

He’s easily spooked and has no desire for adventure. He’s full of love and his soft nature makes him an easy target to be taken advantage of, but he always tries to see the good in people.

* seems like an easy target, but can stand up for himself sometimes. especially if encouraged
* believes in paranormal
* very forgiving
* can be possessive, especially of Thomas
* can be manipulative/guilt tripping without realizing
* anxious, afraid of being forgotten
* impulsive when upset

Percy is very proud of his job delivering mail and doesn't like to hand his job to someone else. He *really* doesn't like handing it over to Harold. He thinks Harold doesn't appreciate the true meaning of the work.

#### Percy's Identity

According to his legal documents, Percy is a girl named "Claire." Since a young age, however, Percy's told others he was a boy, and only picked out the name "Percy" when someone told him "Claire" is a girl's name. Adults around him were typically so overworked they couldn't be bothered to try and convince him otherwise, and he was fortunate in that most of his fellow care kids didn't care either. The ones that did, Percy ignored. The only time he's bothered by his legal name and gender is when other people insist on using them- which usually only happens at his public school. Percy is resilient, though, and Thomas and his other friends are always quick to defend him. Percy plans on changing his legal name and gender when he's older.

### *Interests*

Aside from his interest in trains, he likes flying kites, badminton, *Animal Crossing*, stamp collecting, and wildflowers. He likes to collect pretty bandages, which he then uses on his friends or himself when needed. He also likes to collect patches to put on the jacket he received from the "Diesel Gang."

### *Physical description*

    He's short and curvy with dark freckled skin and a large dark brown afro. His hair's very kinky, specifically type 4C, and he wasn't sure how to properly care for it until Donald and Douglas taught him. His eyes are dark brown. Unlike most of the other trans-masculine people on the railway, Percy is completely comfortable not binding his breasts. He has an extremely high tolerance for the cold which comes in handy for his early morning work, though this tolerance appears to be selective and apply only to cold air. He hates cold water. Percy may not mind the cold air but that doesn't mean he doesn't like being warm; he almost always wears socks to cover his lower legs. He thinks it looks nice, too.

Though not physical, it's also worth mentioning that he has synesthesia.

In the future, Percy will also grow up to be 6'0", which astonishes everyone- including himself. He first surprises Thomas, who came home from university to visit, with this change by picking him up off the ground in an embrace.

#### Uniform

Please see the following visual reference:

## Quotes

* "And then there was trouble!"
* "Oh, that's nothing. You should hear them in the children's home, you have to behave loudly to make yourself heard."
* "I've always liked green, I wouldn't want any other color either."
* "Yes, sir, I am [tired], sir. I don't know if I'm standing on my head or my toes."
* "That Harold, that stuck up whirlybird thing, says we're slow and out of date! Just let him wait, I'll show him."
* "So does this mean...there is no Geoffrey? ... What a shame. That Geoffrey sounded like a really nice fellow!"
* "The Fat Controller *is* leaving! He may not want to, but those men were taking all his things out of his office! Even the *telephone!*"
* "Aren't you afraid of monsters? ... Wow! You're brave, Gator. I wish I was as brave as you are."
* "Please stop sending us letters about *The Wiggles*."

## Trivia

* In early concepts, Percy and Thomas were together romantically. This relationship was later changed to brothers.

## Gallery

Percy reference wip, from 2019 anniversary post