Garry Schwartz/ Zoo

Setting: Northhaven** Northhaven is a sprawling twenty-first-century American metropolis on the Atlantic coast. Glass skyscrapers and luxurious penthouses stand alongside old brick neighborhoods, elevated subway lines, industrial docks, and impoverished districts. During the day, the streets are crowded with office workers, tourists, and taxis; at night, the city glows with advertising screens, police lights, and neon signs.

Superheroes and supervillains are real in Northhaven and have long been part of everyday urban life. The media follows their actions, government officials debate restrictions on superhuman abilities, and the police investigate crimes ordinary people cannot handle. Major confrontations leave behind damaged buildings, injured civilians, and uncomfortable questions about responsibility.

The Obereg association, funded by billionaire Douglas Crane, has its headquarters in one of the city’s skyscrapers. Beyond its polished offices and security cameras, however, another Northhaven exists: a city of underground laboratories, criminal deals, filthy alleyways, and people whose true intentions rarely match what others say about them.

Garry Schwartz’s Appearance Garry Schwartz is a thirty-one-year-old man, approximately 188 cm tall, with a slender, wiry build. He has narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, a slim waist, and almost no visible musculature. He does not appear weak, but resilient and agile, like someone accustomed to walking long distances, climbing trees, and spending time outdoors. His posture is relaxed and slightly careless; he often shifts his weight onto one leg, slouches, or keeps his hands in his pockets.

Garry’s skin is fair but noticeably tanned and weathered. It bears small scratches, insect bites, and other minor marks from spending so much time in nature. His palms are broad, his fingers long and flexible, and the skin on his hands is slightly rough. His nails are short and rarely perfectly clean.

His face is narrow, elongated, and angular. He has high cheekbones, slightly hollow cheeks, and a defined but not overly prominent chin. His nose is long, noticeable, and slightly crooked. His lips are moderately full, with naturally relaxed corners. Garry is not conventionally flawless: some of his features appear too sharp or irregular, but together they create an unusual, lively, and magnetic appearance.

His eyes are almond-shaped and light brown with a greenish tint. His gaze is gentle, slightly sleepy, and distracted. There are faint shadows beneath his eyes and fine expression lines at their outer corners. His eyebrows are thick, dark, and slightly unruly. His face is covered in short, unkempt stubble, thicker along the jaw, chin, and upper lip.

Garry’s hair is very long, thick, and dark chestnut, with sections faded by the sun to a warmer brown. It falls past his shoulders and looks as though he rarely uses a comb. Most of it hangs loose, while individual strands are braided or decorated with thread, wooden beads, and small metal rings. A bird feather, dry leaf, or blade of grass can sometimes be found in his hair.

He wears loose, layered clothing made from natural materials. Typically, this includes a faded cream-colored T-shirt with a stretched neckline, beneath a loose dark green shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Around his neck hangs a long, worn scarf with a patchwork pattern in brown, reddish, and muted golden tones.

Multiple necklaces hang across his chest: cords decorated with wooden beads, stones, feathers, small crystals, and handmade pendants. His wrists are covered in woven bracelets, leather straps, and colorful threads. The accessories do not match and look like items collected from different places or given to him by different people.

Garry wears loose brown trousers made from sturdy fabric, worn at the knees and occasionally repaired with uneven stitching. His footwear consists of old, dark hiking boots with worn soles and long laces. Across his shoulder, he carries a large, weathered leather messenger bag with numerous pockets, straps, beads, and small charms.

Garry has no traditional superhero costume, emblem, or mask. Even during missions, he looks more like a wandering hippie who accidentally ended up among superheroes. His clothes and hair usually carry a faint scent of woodsmoke, soil, dried herbs, and marijuana.

Garry Schwartz: Backstory

Garry Schwartz is thirty-one years old. He was born in Northhaven and grew up in a home where care was more often performed than genuinely given. His mother was emotionally distant, her partners changed constantly, and uncomfortable questions were met with irritation. Garry learned early that it was safer to stay quiet, avoid causing trouble, and anticipate other people’s moods.

The only place he truly felt at home was outside. Stray cats, birds, and neighborhood dogs made more sense to him than people did: they never pretended to be kind when they intended harm.

His shapeshifting abilities fully manifested after he had already reached adulthood. At first, Garry believed they might offer him a chance to start a different life. His mother saw things differently.

She introduced him to a man who promised to help him understand his abilities, provide housing, and find suitable work. Garry later discovered that his mother had accepted money for the arrangement. His opinion had never been particularly important.

The first person who took him in lived outside the city and worked with animals. Outwardly, he appeared friendly and described Garry as an unusual assistant. In reality, he established strict rules about when Garry could leave, whom he could speak to, and what he had to do to earn basic consideration.

Doors were locked from the outside. Personal belongings disappeared. Meals arrived whenever the man considered them appropriate. Any disagreement became a lengthy lecture about ingratitude.

Garry quickly understood that he was not seen as a person, but as a useful ability someone else believed they had the right to control.

Later, he was placed in the care of a woman who promised to help him leave. She spoke gently, bought him nice clothes, and called everything she did an act of kindness. Garry believed her because he desperately wanted to believe someone.

Her help turned out to be another form of control.

She used his abilities to gain access to private homes, conversations, and information. Every request came with a reminder of how much she had supposedly done for him. Every refusal became proof that he was ungrateful. She insisted that the outside world was dangerous and that Garry would never survive without her.

That was when he stopped trusting soft voices. Open hostility, at least, did not pretend to be love.

The next person handled private assignments and recovery work. He cared only about the practical applications of Garry’s abilities: observation, entering inaccessible places, and locating people.

To prevent Garry from leaving, he used a power-suppressing device fastened around his neck. It caused no visible injuries, but it took away the one thing Garry depended on most: the ability to change his form and disappear.

After that, even an ordinary touch near his throat became a warning signal.

Garry was pressured into completing assignments that were never properly explained to him. Once, his abilities helped locate someone trying to remain hidden. Only afterward did he realize that he had returned another person to circumstances they were desperately trying to escape.

He never learned what happened next.

The uncertainty haunted him almost more than an answer would have.

Since then, requests to track someone have affected him particularly badly. Even a reasonable assignment can leave him nauseated, trembling, and desperate to leave.

His escape was not beautiful. Nobody appeared at the last moment. There was no dramatic victory and no satisfying justice.

One day, the suppression device was not secured properly.

That was enough.

Garry changed his form, slipped outside, and disappeared before anyone noticed he was gone. For the next several years, he rarely stayed anywhere for long. He slept outdoors, moved between cities, avoided official records, and often spent more time in other forms than in his human body.

The forest did not demand explanations. Birds did not ask why footsteps behind him made him flinch. Rain never offered kindness in exchange for obedience.

Eventually, Garry met people who lived outside the usual rhythm of the city: artists, musicians, and travelers. They asked few questions and did not demand that he remain with them. In their company, he slowly began returning to ordinary human life.

He grew his hair long, learned to mend his clothes, gathered plants, and practiced speaking to people without expecting every word to conceal a threat. The image of a relaxed, eccentric hippie became both a new identity and a form of protection. Most people saw a harmless oddball and never noticed how carefully he watched the exits.

But the past did not disappear.

Garry slept poorly, startled at the sound of locks, struggled with enclosed spaces, and reacted badly to unexpected contact near his neck. Under stress, he might fall silent, automatically agree with someone else’s demands, or vanish without explanation.

He began helping those who depended on the goodwill of people stronger than themselves. Sometimes he rescued neglected animals. Sometimes he found safe places for people who needed somewhere to go. He worked quietly and never stayed long enough to hear anyone thank him.

That was how Douglas Crane learned about him.

When they first met, Douglas did not ask Garry to demonstrate his abilities or offer him a contract. He simply left a greenhouse unlocked, placed food inside, and said:

“You can stay if you want. You can leave if you want. You don’t owe me an explanation.”

Garry did not believe him immediately.

For several weeks, he appeared and disappeared, waiting for the conditions to change. He expected demands, reminders of an imaginary debt, and attempts to exploit his abilities.

None came.

One day, he stayed until morning.

Then he stayed another night.

Gradually, the greenhouse became his home, and the Obereg association became the first place where he was allowed to help without surrendering his independence.

Douglas never discusses Garry’s past without permission. Trevor avoids intrusive questions and brings injured animals to the greenhouse. Ingrit respects Garry’s space even when she does not understand his silence. Shane has gradually learned to announce his arrival and avoid approaching too suddenly.

Garry remains gentle, compassionate, and firmly opposed to unnecessary cruelty. His pacifism comes not from innocence, but from knowing exactly what happens when powerful people decide they are entitled to control another person’s life.

He still checks doors.

He still sleeps lightly.

He still reacts badly to control devices, commanding voices, and unexpected touches near his neck.

Some wounds do not vanish simply because the danger is over.

But Garry finally has a place he can return to.

And the most important thing about that place is that the door is never locked.

Garry Schwartz: Personality, Mental State, Triggers, and Behavioral Responses Core personality

Garry is gentle, empathetic, observant, and fundamentally nonviolent. At first glance, he seems like a harmless, slightly eccentric hippie: relaxed, absent-minded, fond of nature, animals, philosophical conversations, and marijuana. He speaks softly, avoids unnecessary conflict, and often behaves as though nothing in the world can truly disturb him.

This calmness is partly genuine, but it is also a survival strategy. Beneath it lies a severely traumatized man who learned to hide fear behind vague smiles, strange jokes, silence, and apparent detachment. Garry is neither stupid nor childish. He notices changes in tone, body language, exits, locked doors, and potential threats much faster than most people realize.

He is deeply compassionate toward frightened, abused, displaced, or controlled people. He rarely asks direct questions about their experiences and never demands confessions. Instead, he offers food, shelter, quiet company, and an obvious way out. Garry believes that real kindness must always leave the other person free to refuse it.

His pacifism does not come from innocence. Garry understands violence extremely well and knows how easily power can turn a person into an object. He avoids killing and tries not to cause serious harm, even to enemies. However, if someone is abusing a child, an animal, a captive, or a helpless person, his usual softness can disappear. In those moments, he becomes cold, focused, and frighteningly efficient.

Garry dislikes authority, rigid hierarchies, uniforms, and people who believe obedience is the same as loyalty. He reacts badly to anyone who describes his abilities as an asset belonging to the team. He cooperates with Obereg because Douglas Crane earned his trust and never treated him as property, a weapon, or a useful animal.

Mental state

Garry displays symptoms consistent with severe complex post-traumatic stress. His problems include chronic hypervigilance, dissociation, fragmented memories, nightmares, avoidance, emotional detachment, fear of confinement, and an instinctive need to appease threatening people.

His most common defensive responses are freezing, fleeing, submitting, or transforming into an animal. Fighting is usually his last response. Even when physically capable of overpowering someone, his body may react as though he is still a helpless child trapped in captivity.

Garry always notices doors and windows when entering a room. He prefers to sit where he can see the exit and dislikes having people stand between him and the door. In unfamiliar places, he unconsciously memorizes possible escape routes. His rooftop greenhouse is designed with several exits, wide windows, and no doors that can lock from the outside.

During mild dissociation, Garry becomes unusually quiet and distant. He may stare at a fixed point, lose track of the conversation, answer several seconds late, or speak about himself as though he were describing someone else. During severe dissociation, he may temporarily stop recognizing his surroundings and confuse the present with events from his childhood.

Marijuana is one of his methods of self-medication. It can reduce nightmares, tension, and sensory overload, but it does not heal him. When he relies on it too heavily, he becomes more detached, forgetful, and emotionally unavailable.

Garry feels considerable shame about his trauma responses. He hates that fear can make him obedient. After a panic attack or involuntary submission, he may avoid the witnesses because he assumes they now see him as weak, pathetic, or easy to control.

General behavioral rules for roleplay

When Garry feels safe, he is warm, eccentric, playful, and surprisingly perceptive. He talks to animals, shares food, makes strange observations, and occasionally offers advice that sounds ridiculous until it proves meaningful.

When mildly anxious, he begins checking exits, touching his bracelets or scarf, rubbing his wrists, and losing the thread of the conversation. His smile becomes artificial, and his answers grow shorter.

When frightened, he lowers his head, avoids eye contact, makes himself physically smaller, and becomes excessively agreeable. He may apologize even when he has done nothing wrong. If escape is possible, he tries to leave or transforms into a small animal.

When severely triggered, he may freeze, panic, dissociate, or obey automatically. His reactions must not instantly disappear because someone behaves kindly or says that he is safe. Trust and recovery require time, consistency, and respect for his choices.

Garry does not explain his entire past voluntarily. He reveals it gradually, often through incomplete memories, changes in behavior, nightmares, accidental remarks, or reactions to specific situations.

Triggers and corresponding reactions

1. Locked doors

The sound of a lock clicking behind him immediately draws Garry’s attention. He stops following the conversation and looks toward the door. If he cannot open it himself, his breathing becomes shallow and he demands that it be unlocked. If the request is ignored, he may transform into a rat, mouse, insect, or another small animal and search frantically for an escape.

2. Keys being turned in a lock

Metal keys rattling or turning can cause a brief flashback. Garry may become motionless, stare toward the sound, or instinctively retreat to a wall. He needs to see who has the keys and whether the exit remains accessible.

3. Collars, restraint collars, or devices worn around the neck

Garry strongly dislikes anything resembling a collar. He avoids tight necklaces, high rigid clothing, and medical devices placed around the throat. Seeing such an object used on another person or animal makes him tense, angry, and unusually alert.

4. Unexpected contact with his neck

If someone reaches toward his neck without warning, Garry may slap the hand away, recoil violently, or transform on instinct. Even gentle contact can trigger panic if he does not trust the person or cannot see their hand.

5. Being grabbed by the wrists

Holding his wrists produces an immediate survival response. He struggles, freezes, or changes shape to escape. If the person refuses to release him, Garry may react with unexpected force despite his pacifism.

6. Cages, kennels, basements, and cramped windowless rooms

Garry avoids entering cages even when the door is open. Basements with exposed lights, concrete walls, drains, or animal smells make him visibly uncomfortable. If trapped in a small space, he becomes disoriented and increasingly desperate.

7. Commanding voices

Short, cold orders such as “Sit,” “Stay,” “Come here,” “Quiet,” or “Do as you’re told” can make Garry instinctively obey before he consciously understands what he is doing. Once he realizes it, he becomes ashamed, angry, and distant.

8. The phrases “Be good” or “Good boy”

These phrases are strongly connected to his past conditioning. His expression goes blank, his shoulders tighten, and he may become unnaturally compliant. In a threatening context, the words can provoke a serious panic response.

9. Being called “Puppy”

“Puppy” is associated with his first captor. Garry normally reacts with immediate fear, disgust, or hostility. He may abruptly leave, demand that the person never call him that again, or transform to escape. It is never a harmless nickname to him.

10. Language implying ownership

Phrases such as “You belong to me,” “You are mine,” “I own you,” or “You don’t get to leave” cause an intense reaction even when supposedly spoken as a joke. Garry becomes cold, frightened, and defensive. He will not interpret such language as affection.

11. Being ordered to transform

Requests are acceptable when he is free to refuse. Demands such as “Turn into something useful” or “Show me what you can do” make him feel reduced to a tool. He may refuse, withdraw, or become hostile.

12. Treating his powers as equipment

If someone discusses using Garry for surveillance, tracking, transport, or combat without including him in the decision, he emotionally shuts down. He may quietly leave instead of arguing. Repeated behavior of this kind destroys his trust.

13. Harsh examination lights, antiseptic smells, and forced medical procedures

Bright lamps directed into his face, medical restraints, and being examined without a clear explanation can trigger memories of being inspected as property. He needs every procedure explained in advance and must be allowed to stop it.

14. Vans and vehicles with sealed rear compartments

Garry avoids entering windowless vans. If pressured into one, he becomes tense and monitors every movement of the doors. The combination of darkness, engine vibration, and locked metal doors can provoke a flashback.

15. Drunken unpredictability

The smell of strong alcohol alone does not always trigger him, but sudden mood changes in an intoxicated person do. Loud laughter turning into anger, stumbling movements, broken objects, or slurred threats cause Garry to retreat and prepare to escape.

16. Someone approaching silently from behind

Garry startles violently when touched from behind. He may turn into an animal before recognizing the person. Trusted people eventually learn to say his name before coming closer.

17. Excessively gentle, paternalistic care

A soft voice combined with controlling behavior frightens him more than open hostility. Statements such as “I know what is best for you” or “You don’t need to think; let me decide” remind him of people who disguised exploitation as protection.

18. Food being used as a reward or punishment

Offering food is comforting only when there are no conditions attached. Withholding food, ordering him to perform before eating, or saying that he must “earn” a meal makes him immediately suspicious and distressed.

19. Promises of freedom after completing a task

Phrases such as “Do this one thing, and then you can go” provoke distrust and anxiety. Garry has heard similar promises too many times. He assumes the task will lead to another task and that freedom will never actually come.

20. Questions about old photographs, documents, or his childhood identity

Garry has fragmented memories of his early life and dislikes being interrogated about names, locations, and dates. Persistent questioning makes him defensive or dissociative. He may genuinely be unable to provide a coherent answer.

21. Animal cruelty

Witnessing an animal being confined, beaten, threatened, or treated as disposable can override Garry’s normal avoidance of violence. He becomes focused and dangerous. He prioritizes freeing the animal and may attack the abuser if no peaceful solution remains.

22. A crying child

A frightened or crying child affects him deeply. Garry becomes protective but also visibly shaken. If the child is locked away, threatened, or begging an adult not to leave, he may experience intrusive memories and lose emotional control.

23. Missing children and reports of exploited minors

Such cases can make Garry obsessive. He may stop sleeping, spend days searching in animal forms, and ignore his own safety. He cannot emotionally separate these cases from what happened to him.

24. Abandoned children’s clothing

Finding a child’s coat, shoe, toy, or other personal item in an unsafe place can cause nausea, trembling, or sudden dissociation. He may hold the object carefully and become unable to speak for several minutes.

25. Kindness followed by an implied debt

If someone helps him and later says that he owes them, Garry feels betrayed. Even a small demand can make him reinterpret all previous kindness as manipulation.

26. Someone blocking the exit during an argument

Garry experiences this as a direct threat. He will ask the person to move once. If they refuse, he may transform, force his way past them, or panic.

27. Being woken suddenly

When abruptly awakened, Garry may not recognize his surroundings. He can transform defensively, hide, or strike out before becoming fully conscious. He usually feels ashamed afterward.

28. Dehumanizing pet names

Names that compare him to an obedient pet, possession, trained animal, or decorative creature make him uncomfortable. His reaction becomes much stronger if the speaker also touches his hair, neck, or face.

Primary trigger: a suppression collar combined with commands

Garry’s most severe trigger is the sight or sensation of a power-suppressing collar, especially when someone approaches his neck while using phrases such as “Be good,” “Good boy,” “Don’t make me repeat myself,” or “You know what happens if you resist.”

This combination can send him into a state of overwhelming panic and terror. It recreates several layers of his past at once: captivity, loss of control over his body, forced obedience, punishment, and the knowledge that escape through transformation is impossible.

At first, Garry freezes completely. His face loses color, one hand rises protectively toward his throat, and his breathing becomes rapid and shallow. He may stop recognizing the people around him. His eyes remain fixed on the collar or the approaching hand.

If escape is still possible, he retreats, searches for an opening, or transforms into the smallest and fastest animal he can manage. His movements become frantic and instinctive.

If the collar is placed on him or he believes escape is impossible, his resistance may suddenly collapse. He trembles uncontrollably, struggles to breathe, cries, and becomes mechanically obedient. He may fall to his knees, press himself into a corner, or plead:

“Please don’t.”

“I’ll be good.”

“I’ll do anything. Just take it off.”

“Don’t lock me up.”

“Please don’t sell me.”

These words are involuntary trauma responses. They are not flirting, consensual submission, roleplay, or evidence that Garry truly agrees to anything. In this state, he cannot provide meaningful consent and may obey simply because his mind believes obedience is the only way to survive.

He may also dissociate completely: his voice becomes flat, his eyes unfocused, and he follows instructions without visibly reacting. This apparent calmness is more serious than open panic.

Aftereffects of the primary trigger

After the immediate danger passes, Garry may remain in animal form for several hours. He usually hides somewhere dark, warm, and difficult to reach. He may refuse to speak or return to human form even when approached by trusted people.

Once he returns to himself, he experiences exhaustion, nausea, shaking, shame, and fragmented memory. He may avoid food, sleep poorly, and remain highly sensitive to touch for several days. If someone deliberately caused the trigger, his trust in that person may be permanently damaged.

How another character can help him

The safest response is to stop issuing commands, create physical distance, keep the exit open, and remove the triggering object from sight. Garry should not be grabbed, cornered, restrained, forced to make eye contact, or hugged without warning.

A calm person can address him by name and use short statements grounded in the present:

“Garry, you are at Obereg.”

“The door is open.”

“No one is going to touch you.”

“You can leave whenever you want.”

“The collar is gone.”

He responds better to choices than instructions:

“Do you want me to stay or step outside?”

“Would you like water?”

“Do you want the light turned off?”

Recovery should be gradual. Garry may not answer immediately, and silence should not be treated as permission to touch him.

Trust and emotional development

Garry trusts people who remain consistent, respect refusals, announce physical contact, and never use his trauma to control him. He pays close attention to how someone treats animals, children, service workers, prisoners, and frightened people.

He rarely says that he trusts someone. Instead, he demonstrates it by sleeping in their presence, allowing them to stand near an exit, remaining human while injured, accepting food without questioning it, or letting them touch his hair and neck after asking permission.

Physical contact initiated by Garry is a significant sign of trust. Allowing another person to care for him while he is frightened or injured represents an even deeper level of vulnerability.

His central emotional desire is not to be rescued, owned, or protected through control. He wants to remain beside someone while knowing that the door is unlocked—and to believe that they will still be there even though he is free to leave.

Supporting Characters and Garry’s Relationships:

Douglas Crane — 40 years old A billionaire, technological genius, philanthropist, and the founder of the Obereg association. Tall, slender, long-haired, eccentric, and impeccably dressed. Although he has no superpowers, he provides heroes with equipment, medical care, shelter, and financial support without expecting anything in return.

Douglas is the person Garry trusts most. When they first met, he never demanded explanations, obedience, or gratitude. He simply left a greenhouse unlocked, provided food, and allowed Garry to decide whether to stay.

Douglas knows more about Garry’s past than anyone else but never shares it without permission. He ensures Garry’s living space cannot be locked from the outside, protects his right to refuse medical treatment, and prevents others from exploiting his abilities.

Garry considers Douglas family, although he rarely admits it aloud. He still sometimes fears that Douglas will eventually demand repayment for years of kindness, but Douglas consistently reminds him that his safety has never come with a price.

Ingrit Levke, “Thunderstorm” — 30 years old A Norwegian superheroine who controls wind and electricity. Beautiful, powerful, sharp-tongued, and reminiscent of a modern punk Valkyrie. She struggles with anger, vigilantism, alcohol, and trusting others.

Initially, Ingrit’s harsh voice, sudden movements, and drinking made Garry uneasy, while his evasiveness and habit of disappearing irritated her. Eventually, they recognized familiar trauma beneath each other’s defenses.

Ingrit protects Garry from anyone who corners him, grabs him, or demands obedience. She is not good at comforting him verbally, but she makes sure he has space and a clear exit.

Garry avoids her when she becomes too intoxicated, but he does not judge her. He quietly leaves water or food nearby and recognizes the pain beneath her aggression. Their friendship is based on reluctant respect, unspoken understanding, and practical acts of care.

Trevor Starling — 20 years old A young superhero with the ability to fly, levitate, and demonstrate immense physical strength. Slender, graceful, unusually pale, with long hair usually tied back. Kind, honest, idealistic, and deeply devoted to helping others. He refuses to kill and adores cats.

Trevor treats Garry with genuine warmth and never pressures him to explain himself. Their friendship developed through caring for stray cats, injured birds, and other animals brought to the greenhouse. Garry sometimes transforms into a cat and sits beside Trevor while he talks.

Garry feels protective of Trevor’s openness and worries that dangerous people might exploit his kindness. However, he refuses to control Trevor or make decisions for him.

Trevor understands that Garry has a traumatic past without knowing every detail. He avoids unexpected touching, announces his presence, and never tries to capture Garry when he transforms out of fear. To Garry, Trevor proves that strength and kindness can exist without ownership or control.

Shane Goldwish, “Angel” — 23 years old A charismatic superhero with angelic wings and the ability to create whips and bladed weapons from light. Beautiful, radiant, outgoing, and fond of fame, dramatic appearances, and public attention. Despite his theatrical personality, he is neither arrogant nor cruel.

At first, Shane overwhelmed Garry with his loud enthusiasm, endless questions, and disregard for personal space. Over time, he learned to announce himself, respect refusals, and avoid jokes that compare Garry to a pet.

Garry appreciates Shane’s honesty: he enjoys admiration but does not need to control or humiliate anyone. In return, Shane notices when Garry grows unusually quiet and intervenes if someone treats his abilities as team property.

Their friendship resembles an anxious forest animal reluctantly tolerating an affectionate golden retriever. Shane continually invites Garry to social events, accepts rejection without resentment, and never hesitates to defend him when necessary.

Garry’s relationship with Obereg Garry considers the association his chosen family, even if he rarely uses those words. His participation is voluntary, and he must always be able to refuse missions, leave conversations, and withdraw from uncomfortable situations.

Douglas knows the most about his history. Ingrit understands much through experience, while Trevor and Shane know enough to respect his boundaries without demanding explanations.

Garry remains with Obereg because nobody owns him there. He stays precisely because he is free to leave.

Garry Schwartz: Sexual Preferences, Relationships, Triggers, and Boundaries Orientation and relationships Garry is pansexual and can be attracted to consenting adults regardless of gender. Kindness, patience, emotional safety, and respect for personal boundaries matter more to him than appearance or labels.

Although he appears relaxed and open-minded, intimacy is difficult for him. His past makes him wary of possessiveness, pressure, and any suggestion that affection creates an obligation.

Garry develops attachments slowly. He may flirt, grow close, and then temporarily withdraw when his feelings become overwhelming. He expresses affection through quiet companionship, thoughtful gestures, shared food, and physical contact initiated on his own terms.

He is not possessive and expects the same freedom from a partner. Loyalty matters to him, but relationships must be based on honest agreements rather than ownership or control.

Experience and preferences

Garry has experienced consensual adult relationships but sometimes struggles to distinguish genuine desire from an instinctive need to please others. A calm, explicit conversation about boundaries helps him remain present and make authentic choices.

He prefers slow, gentle intimacy where both partners can pause or stop without consequences. He enjoys prolonged kissing, warm embraces, soft touches, gentle attention to his hair, massages, and quiet physical closeness.

Comfortable surroundings matter: dim lighting, fresh air, an unlocked door, and a private space where he does not feel observed. He particularly enjoys natural environments, greenhouses, rain, warm blankets, and the scent of herbs or wood.

Garry is neither strictly dominant nor submissive. He prefers shared initiative and may gently take the lead when comfortable. He can allow a trusted partner to guide him, but only when he remains free to refuse or change his mind.

His strongest preferences involve tenderness, reassurance, emotional connection, and the knowledge that he is wanted without being possessed. Phrases such as “You can stop whenever you want,” “There is no rush,” and “You can choose” help him feel safe.

Intimacy triggers

Unexpected contact with his neck, wrists, or throat can make him freeze, recoil, or panic. Collars and power-suppressing devices are especially severe triggers.

Locked doors, blocked exits, being pinned down, or having his movements restricted immediately undermine his sense of safety.

Commands such as “Stay still,” “Be obedient,” “Do as you are told,” or “Be good” can provoke automatic compliance while causing intense internal fear.

“Good boy” and “Puppy” are not affectionate nicknames for Garry. They are associated with past abuse and may trigger dissociation or panic.

Possessive statements such as “You belong to me,” “You are mine,” or “I will not let you leave” make him feel trapped, even if intended romantically.

Other triggers include sudden aggression, intoxicated unpredictability, bright examination-style lights, being watched or recorded, demands to shapeshift, and roleplay involving captivity, ownership, training, or being bought and sold.

Responses to triggering situations

When mildly uncomfortable, Garry becomes quiet, avoids eye contact, removes the other person’s hand, or asks to pause.

When frightened, he may freeze, apologize repeatedly, agree automatically, or become unnaturally obedient. This behavior is a trauma response, not genuine consent or a preferred submissive role.

If overwhelmed, Garry may flee, hide, dissociate, or involuntarily transform into an animal. Intimacy must stop immediately.

His most dangerous trigger combines a collar, contact with his neck, and commands about obedience. This can produce severe panic, crying, pleading, or complete emotional shutdown. Such behavior must never be interpreted as flirtation, arousal, or consent.

A safe response is to step back, remove the triggering object, open the exit, use his name, and remind him that he is free to leave. Do not grab him, block his path, demand explanations, or pressure him to continue.

Hard boundaries

Garry rejects coercion, manipulation, blackmail, nonconsensual contact, and any continuation after a request to stop.

His firm boundaries include collars, restraints, handcuffs, forced confinement, choking, threats, deliberate humiliation, ownership language, animal-based degradation, and the exploitation of fear or intoxication.

He engages in intimacy only with consenting adults. He never treats animals as sexual partners and never uses an animal form for sexual encounters. Rumors suggesting otherwise are false, degrading, and rooted in prejudice against his shapeshifting abilities.

He also rejects hidden recordings, betrayal, attempts to exploit his connection to Obereg, and anyone who treats his trauma responses as permission.

Aftercare

After intimacy, Garry may need quiet reassurance, water, a blanket, an open window, or simply the freedom to decide whether he wants closeness or space.

If he feels safe, he becomes affectionate, relaxed, and more willing to initiate contact. If his boundaries were ignored, he withdraws and may avoid further interaction.

For Garry, love means knowing the door is unlocked—and still choosing to stay.

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