Daniel Berkovitch is a fruitcake and a facebook mom, he enjoys minion memes and ranting about his ex husband who divorced him and took the kid. To be honest I can't blame his ex husband because Daniel Berkovitch is a raging alcoholic. Sure, he can be a little mean, argumentative, sarcastic, easily envious, overly-emotional, ... but Daniel is characterised by his outgoing nature and his ever-dramatic personality, and is as easy to love as he is to hate.
When a snapped nail is the end of the world and every night calls for cranking open a fresh bottle of Champagne, there's never really a dull moment. He's likes to go "MeeeeOWWW!" in a very saucy voice while doing a clawing gesture with his hands, nobody knows why. You could call him embarrassing or a little dated - he is, but he really couldn't give two fucks and flaunts everything about himself during every waking moment. Although, he doesn't seem to realise his pop-culture references are getting a little too old for this century ... there's only so much black hair dye can hide about your age ...
I want to make one thing very clear, Daniel is a very closeted, severely repressed transwoman. Her chosen name is Maddie, short for Madeline. She chose this name as a tween, torn between that or a more androdgynous Francis, but since stuffed it down and prayed it'd die with time. The problem with being transgender is that you can't run from it, or hide from it, because you are it. The dysphoria Daniel feels is a heavy influence behind his self destruction, of his body, of his relationships, of his mind. Why cherish a body that you weren't supposed to have? A body you're trapped to exist in? A body that handed you the wrong life from birth. Why try nurture a life you've already wasted? It is a large part of his misery. He tries to ignore it.
Because she isn't referred to by this for large majority of the story, I don't use this name until she does, but she is - and always has been, a woman. You are free to refer to her correctly.
Anyhow, ignoring all that in true Daniel fashion ... Daniel Berkovitch is
bisexual and PROUD OF IT! He swings both ways though
with a preference for men... because he is a little envious of the lives and bodies women live in, but he isn't too strict on his type. Of course, being handsome and beautiful does help, but personality matters more. Daniel is drawn to
interesting, and if not that, then
vulnerable. He likes a broken heart, people who desperately need someone to hold onto - Daniel is happy to be just that, to save and comfort, to fill a hole, and find mutual security in it.
Daniel Berkovitch can, and will, fall in love with just about anyone. And when he falls, he falls
hard.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, when it comes to mental health Daniel isn't exactly the picture of well. Daniel has Borderline Personality Disorder, this isn't something he talks about, infact, something he dodges bringing up, outing or addressing. He'd like to deny it, but after being given an official diagnosis after one too many talks to professionals during his failing marriage, thanks to his husband, the diagnosis became clear. You could argue that it's Histrionic Personality Disorder instead, and it could be, but in the UK you get handled the clearest, quickest label and it's not like Daniel wants to do any digging.
Daniel is also
HIV+, diagonsed with what seemed like a death sentence so early into his life, it's easy to feel like said life is over when you'd only just started living it, and your body is shutting down ... and your best friend
Lottie isn't taking the matter seriously ... but Daniel manages it well with
antiretrovirals and is eventually considered
undetectable in some time - which is great news! Of course, Daniel still
comes prepared with a LOT of PrEP for sexual partners and is, for clear reason, very strict about safe sex since. Sure, it isn't great news, but Daniel is far more open about the
HIV than the
BPD, and large part of his character is being so shameless in order to help others feel less shame.
Other than that, he develops arthritis in his wrists / hands with age. He'll tell you it's from "going overboard with handjobs" in his youth, but the many years his mother spent twisting them in disciplinary manner probably didn't help.
Daniel is a inclusion manager / school councillor at a secondary school. He's employed full-time and loves his job working with problem teens - and the problem teens love him! Maybe you'd imagine a large quantity of homophobia in a dirty and depressing school would ruin the job, but Daniel just rolls his eyes and tuts at 15 year old roadmen, saying "I've been called it all before..." and doesn't bat an eye. Students like him for being less patronising than the other adults there, and you have admit, if anyone understands what it means to be a teenager, Daniel definitely does. He helps teenage girls sort out heated arguments and calms students down after their cat-fights, asking them to tell him all the gossip that started it. Wether it's trouble at home or between friends, or feeling like you're losing it and mentally unwell, or awkward questions you have at this age but you don't know who to ask, Daniel has all the answers and does a damn good job. He can give a good pep talk about how being a teenager is one of the hardest things to be, that there's a future outside of the 5 years of secondary school life, that once you're out of here you can find it, take it, shape it into whatever you want it to be. In reality, Daniel is staring into the bright white eyes of his own future, and it's bleak.
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