Q & A AMA - Chase Devineaux

[Chase]

Starting with a random idea in site chat, this is a character-based Ask Me Anything.
Anyone, any character, can start one.

I'm posting the background from Chase's profile. I've built this character for the past decade, about time to test if the info makes sense.

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BACKGROUND (Currently subject to change.)
[Age 18-21]: United States Marines (OCS)
[21 - 26]: Detective, ACME, private firm. Special Agent.
[26 - 28]: Political Science, Master's Degree, Yale University.
[28 - 30]: ACME Academy Instructor.
[30- 33]: Private Contracts, Krav Maga - Brown Belt
[33 - 35]: ACME HQ in San Francisco, official (unofficial) Field Director, Special Operations.
[35 - Current]: ACME's Director of Operations.

After necessary education and a childhood in Warren, Maine; Chase Devineaux entered the U.S. Marine Corps and eventually took Officer Training. Despite gaining the rank of Marine Captain, he has never served in a war.

At the age of 22, he entered ACME Academy and took the Detective Exam, primarily working in 'Missing Persons'. Sometime between the ages of 22 and 23, Chase was partnered with Carmen Sandiego on several international cases. The partnership was accepted, but was never considered official until after cases ended. By winter of the same year, the former Marine began working in Covert Operations for the Special Division of ACME.

He took time off to pursue a master's degree in Political Science at Yale at the age of 26, among other things.

Returning, Chase Devineaux instructed ACME Agents at the Academy. He officially resigned from the position a few years later where he aimed to pursue a more serious relationship with his then live-in girlfriend. Consequently, the relationship failed and Devineaux spent the next two years working on private contracts. During this time, he pursued training in Israel where he received a brown belt in Krav Maga.

Some time later, Chase returned to ACME and accepted a new title as head of Special Operations. After an incident regarding the disappearance of ACME Tower I in San Francisco, he is now Director of Operations.

It's a little-known fact that Devineaux plays the piano and once was 'the guy with the guitar' before joining the Marines. He was a large force behind getting the Steinway in ACME HQ's rec room.
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There we go, now ask me anything...

 

[Jacqueline Hyde]

Do you prefer the guitar or piano? Why?

 

[Lee]

If you could serve in a war, any war past or present, which would it be?

 

[Joe Kerr]

Did that live-in girlfriend have a name?

 

[Chase]

Do you prefer the guitar or piano? Why?

Answering this is harder than I thought. The guitar is more portable. I like the ability to just pick it up and play anywhere. But the piano... there really isn't anything quite like sitting alone in front of the keys and free-styling random scores until my head clears.

 

[Chase]

If you could serve in a war, any war past or present, which would it be?

The Peloponnesian war, I'd command a ship, and fight for Athens.

Did that live-in girlfriend have a name?

Yes.

 

[Jacqueline Hyde]

Okay, Mr. Smart Aleck, what was the live-in girlfriend's name?

 

[Chase]

Okay, Mr. Smart Aleck, what was the live-in girlfriend's name?

Her name was Lauren Halle, and she was a physician at the ACME Medical Center (AMC).

And while digging through my notes, I found a reference to 'Lauren' in an old In-Character chat a few years back.

[ Chase ]: I've been thinking a lot about this tower you stole.
[ Carmen ]: Have you?
[ Carmen ]: I'm sure you have insightful conclusions to share?
[ Chase ]: Not really.
[ Carmen ]: Leave it, then.
[ Chase ]: You expect me to leave it?
[ Carmen ]: Frankly, I don't. I simply enjoy telling you to do things you never will.
[ Carmen ]: I'm quite sure it's similar to Dr. Weller's hints to you about marriage.
[ Chase ]: Can't say I disagree.
[ Chase ]: He thinks somebody should be at home to iron my clothes and make sure I eat a decent meal.
[ Carmen ]: To allocate the correct amount of cash in your wallet every morning.
[ Chase ]: *Chuckles* Yeah, that kind of nonsense.
[ Carmen ]: What happened with Lauren?
[ Chase ]: I like to think that was me.
[ Chase ]: It's for the best, like everything is, she deserves more attention than I can afford.
[ Carmen ]: For some inexplicable reason, your inability to allocate attention surprises me.
[ Chase ]: That's new.
[ Chase ]: Why would it surprise you?
[ Carmen ]: You're not one to ignore need. This is a fact I'm sure your detectives know quite well.
[ Chase ]: It's work, I think I need it a lot more than it needs me.
[ Carmen ]: You don't perceive family as work, then?
[ Chase ]: You're saying I should view starting a family the same way I see work now?
[ Carmen ]: And why not? After all, working towards a family is the only sort of work where rewards are infinite, even if you lack perfection.
[ Carmen ]: Your superiors, "benevolent" as they are, will find someone to replace you as soon as you're proven weak.
[ Chase ]: I haven't thought that far. And I don't know if I should really be taking family advice from you.
[ Carmen ]: Mm, fair enough.
[ Chase ]: Have you thought about family?
[ Carmen ]: I'm far happier with VILE.
[ Chase ]: You don't think this will get old?
[ Carmen ]: Everything gets old.
[ Chase ]: So when does it stop?
[ Carmen ]: When I'm done with my trifle desires, emphatically.
[ Chase ]: And what if those desires are endless?
[ Carmen ]: *Smirks*
[ Carmen ]: They are not.

Thought this snippet was worth putting in here.

 

[Contessa]

My, my, and to think.... You nearly resigned yourself to a mundane life.

Why political science, I wonder?

 

[Chase]

My, my, and to think.... You nearly resigned yourself to a mundane life.

Why political science, I wonder?

I'm not so sure it would have been mundane. I wanted that life, it just didn't quite click.

Political science seems like the natural next step. Understanding defenses is one thing, but keeping a country thriving takes more than setting up an army. My degree covered Politics, Economics and Philosophy.

 

[Patty]

Tell me all about Lauren Halle, in Chase's POV. First person, please! I want to know how he met her, what was the beginning like, how did it evolve into living together, and then what triggered the falling apart.

 

[Jacqueline Hyde]

Tell me all about Lauren Halle, in Chase's POV. First person, please! I want to know how he met her, what was the beginning like, how did it evolve into living together, and then what triggered the falling apart.

I'm glad you're not demanding at all.