Joshua Galen

Dr. Joshua Friedrich Galen is the crew's medic and Corruption avatar. He was one of the first few additions to the crew, being rescued and employed by the Magnus after his avatar transformation led to the deaths of everyone aboard his previous ship. His main duties on board include treating his fellow avatars for disease and injury and performing physical check-ups from time to time. He can most often be found in the medical bay, which holds copious amounts of medicines, books on diseases, fungi, and rot, and mushrooms which he cultivates.

Joshua's playlist can be found here.

Appearance
Joshua is a short white man whose appearance differs drastically depending on his health. In general, he can always be found with slightly-longer-than-chin-length blond hair, grey eyes, and his cane, upon which he depends to walk.

While he is sick, his skin is ghostly pale and covered sporadically with red rashes, blemishes, and open sores. His body temperature is unnaturally high, hovering around 104 degrees Fahrenheit, giving his entire body a sickly flush and a sheen of sweat. His pale grey eyes are clouded and inattentive, and his lips are cracked and bleeding. He is emaciated and thin, with his ribs, cheekbones, etc. visible under his skin. His hair appears dirty-blond or brown due to the oil and sweat soaking it. When he is particularly far gone, necrosis begins to claim his body, noticeable mostly in the black skin around his fingernails and the dark veins creeping up his neck. While he is healthy, Joshua's hair is a vibrant blond, and his body shape is fuller. His cheeks are round, his skin is a normal pink-ish color, and his eyes are bright. Due to his complicated relationship with the Corruption, he is seen in this state far less often.

[cw: mushrooms] After becoming an avatar, fungi resembling cultivated Flammulina velutipes began to grow from his scalp. They grow in cycles, being firmly rooted at first and bleeding when broken, but once their season has passed they can fall off harmlessly before growing again.

Joshua's fashion also depends on their health. When they are infectious, they wear a full plague doctor's suit, including breeches, a heavy overcoat, a shoulder cape, leather gloves, and a beaked mask. This outfit is entirely black. When they are healthier, they wear less layers, and can be found in a flowy off-white shirt and brown breeches. They wear either heeled black boots or (less commonly) go barefoot.

Personality
Though Joshua does not appear to be a complicated person at first glance, their morality and true nature remain somewhat of an enigma. Often, aspects of their personality appear in direct contradiction to each other, making it hard to determine whether they are a guilt-ridden man striving to be better or a merciless killer with no qualms about taking lives.

Around their crew, they typically act with a polite and nonthreatening demeanor, speaking softly and with a nervous edge to their voice. They appear rather anxious during interactions with crewmembers with whom they have a less developed relationship, as if they are seeking their approval. They always jump at the opportunity to help a crewmate in need, whether that be as emotional support, a helping hand in some task or other, or by putting their skills as a doctor to good use. They care deeply for their crew, going to every length possible to protect them from their illnesses and to treat them when they're hurt.

Despite this kind and altruistic personality, he has shown himself to have a dark streak and a lack of care for human life. He speaks with glee about vivisecting innocent sailors and defiling their corpses for use in his Corrupt purposes. Even though he has sworn to protect his crew, he exhibits a similar enthusiasm about the idea of dissecting his fellow avatars, and has even done so when given consent. For example, he has fantasized openly about removing one of Augustin's eyes, examining Henrique's skull, dissecting Gall's chest, and so on. He remains adamant that he would never hurt anyone of the Phoenix, but this claim does not necessarily mean he has never thought about it. His adherence seems to be that those considered as the crew are off limits, as he assures Lyon Wight of his safety due and only due to his role on board.

When reminded about the fact that he is a murderer, he will turn frigid and speak with clipped, blunt sentences. On occasion, he appears to harbor resentment towards himself for his crimes, expressing the feeling that he is unforgiveable or has committed some grave amount of sins. When pushed to his limit, especially by crewmembers such as Augustin, he is capable of snappy, biting insults and even shows of force; though he often reverts quickly back to his nervous and placating persona. He is always the first to agree with Augustin's assessments that he is disgusting, abhorrent, or dangerous.

Phoenix Crew
Joshua harbors romantic feelings for nearly every member of the crew, excepting those who he would otherwise not be attracted to (ie, female-aligned crewmembers). It is unknown how much of his attraction towards others would be present were he human, and how much is a byproduct of the Corruption leading him to crave physical closeness in order to spread his infections.

The crewmembers with which he is engaged in romantic relationships are as follows:


 * Micah Lukas, the love of his life;
 * Henrique Thiago Machado, the second love of his life;
 * Cook, who shares his love of the grotesque and flesh;
 * Poemä Morrisey, a man so muscular it'd be impossible not to simp for him.

He has expressed interest in the following crewmembers, though there is nothing official between them.


 * Clancy Blake, whose internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity he worries about;
 * Hezekiah Hill, who he has kissed on various (drunken) occasions;
 * Clarence Bateman, who he appreciates aesthetically;
 * Lyon Morcant Wight, whose intellect and eloquence he admires;
 * Eli Whitbeck, with whom he enjoys foraging for mushrooms and travelling through the Distortion;
 * Augustin Choudhary, who he fawns over despite the man's disdain for him.

One particularly notable addition to this list is Zachariah Gall, with whom their relationship is complex. Joshua had a great fondness for Zachariah before his avatar transformation, and believed it possible that he might return their feelings. After the tailor became Gall, however, they were crushed by what they viewed as their failure to spot the influence of the Circus, and were plagued by doubts that Gall was even the same person anymore. Though their affections towards Gall haven't changed, it is no longer certain whether any of these feelings are reciprocated, and they are known at times to selfishly wish he were still Zachariah. Despite this, the two appear to be on good terms.

The crewmembers he is not attracted to romantically are as follows:


 * Jack Huntley, for whom he holds a professional respect, but who doesn't interact with him much;


 * Kailani Amara, who is a near and dear friend, and whose feelings of monstrosity and fear of oneself he understands.

He worried often for Miriam's safety and wellbeing during her time with the crew, and took any occasion to dote on her.

Backstory
Joshua was born to unnamed parents in Kiel, Germany, in 1798. He had a modestly comfortable childhood, and was an only child, with no close cousins or other relatives aside from his parents. He was drawn towards the sciences and the natural world from a young age, being fascinated with insects, fungi, and all manners of living creature - especially their anatomy. He studied medicine once it was available to him, dedicating long hours to reading every medical book he could get his hands on, and apprenticed as a surgeon in Paris as a young man.

At the age of 26, he boarded the British Navy ship the Aegle for the first time, employed as its medic.

Powers

 * Delayed Aging: Joshua became an avatar at the age of 27, and has shown few signs of aging since. It is unlikely that he will continue to age while he remains an avatar.
 * Infectious Touch: Joshua is able to pass any disease in their body onto others simply by touching them. The process of forcing an illness upon another cures Joshua of it, leaving him healthier - however marginally - when he is finished.
 * Hozier Brainrot: The Corruption's song is audible to Joshua at all times of the day at varying volumes. Occasionally, he will slip into somewhat of a trance and hum or sing along to this melody in a weak, broken voice, with seemingly no awareness of doing so. Upon hearing this song, one would feel an itching underneath their skin and a subtle draw towards the Corrupt.
 * Medical Mastery: Alongside his already-existing skills as a surgeon and doctor, the Corruption grants him extensive knowledge of anatomy and disease that exceeds the common knowledge of the time. It is unknown whether this extends to mental illness, though he has shown himself to be sympathetic to the topic, if not an expert.

Leitner
An unofficial Leitner exists for Joshua within the crew/TMA canon. Though not part of Leitner's collection, the volume possesses supernatural properties and curses its readers. It takes the form of the medical journal that Joshua owned while employed on the Aegle, which lists out the diseases an aspiring doctor might need to treat. The volume is relatively thick, and in the present day is waterlogged after being recovered from a shipwreck. Somehow, the text is still legible, with exception for the bottom of each page (where one would find the cures). As one reads through the descriptions of various deadly illnesses, one slowly begins to experience the symptoms oneself; but by the time the reader notices this, it is already too late.

Many pages are marked with handwritten notes in German, which start off innocent at the beginning of the volume and lose coherency as the pages go on, until it seems that the writer venerates the diseases rather than wishes to cure them.

Trivia

 * Joshua's eyes were originally brown, but for unknown reasons, they lost their color after he joined the Corruption.
 * While identifying with masculinity and as an nblm/mlm, they enjoy presenting femininely and being referred to with titles such as "Miss," "Ma'am," and "Frau (Doktor)." This is especially seen in the Prince AU, where they refer to themself as "Auntie Joshua," have longer hair and wear dresses regularly, and try to cause as much confusion as possible as to their true gender.
 * Despite hailing from Germany, Joshua's name is conspicuously non-German, with the exception of his middle name. It is unknown whether "Joshua Galen" is itself an alias.
 * An alternate version of Joshua has, within the Eeby Deeby, claimed that his birth name is Johann Krüger.
 * The name of Joshua's previous ship, the Aegle, is a reference to the Greek goddess of radiant good health. This name becomes ironic when considering the fate of the rest of her crew.
 * Joshua speaks three languages: German, French, and English. Despite apprenticing in Paris, his French remains extremely shoddy to this day, though he speaks English with nigh-poetic levels of fluency. His eloquence in English can be partially attributed to his study of Shakespeare.
 * Their walking cane, while functional, doubles as a weapon; a thin sword is hidden in the body, with the handle of the cane also making up the sword's grip. Any wound created by this blade would turn gangrenous immediately.
 * [cw: drug use] Joshua self-medicates for the considerable amounts of pain they are in due to their illnesses, and has developed a tolerance to cocaine thanks to its use in medications of the time. They are often on cocaine while sick and going about their daily routine, and though this has led to several worrying effects such as difficulty sleeping and auditory hallucinations, they do not mention it to the rest of the crew.
 * His favorite fruit is near-rotten peaches; he enjoyed the sickly sweetness of rot even before becoming an avatar.
 * He cannot communicate with insects like some other Corruption avatars, but does hold a fondness for them. Instead, he is closely associated with rats as bringers of plague, and owns several, all female and named after German words for flowers.
 * Joshua has, in a delirious, fevered state, drafted plans for a Corruption ritual. These plans sit neatly tucked away in his desk drawer, where they will likely go unused.
 * While they typically show a deal of appreciation and respect for other entities, they seem to harbor an intense dislike for the Web, going so far as to argue with Hezekiah Hill over whether it or the Filth is worse. It is unknown why this entity in particular troubles them, though it may have something to do with the signature loss of control over one's own actions.