#you said infodump and my brain took it very seriously 😂

[aintgonnatakethis]

You've got me wondering about Telford on this beautiful morning. Can I request an infodump on this sumbitch? Bonus points for info that came from your headcanon.

Oh, Jamie, you don't know what you've done... Put beneath a cut because Telford's life story got kinda long 😂 Also will use this as an opportunity to answer the "OC" facts tag from @the-golden-comet (x) Let's take a look at my favourite little fucker: Colonel David Telford!

He was adopted by a high-middle class white couple who wanted the pats on the back they'd get for giving a child of colour a "second chance", but then were severely disappointed when that brown baby grew up to be a brown man... So he grew up *surrounded* by white people, suffering everything from micro-aggressions to full on racism. Below is an excerpt from i am a prisoner just like you, bits of my Vamp AU series I wanted to tell from Telford's POV. This particular bit is a flashback to when he was 18.

Young let out a surprised laugh, slapping Telford good-naturedly on the back. “Fair’s fair.” He had a nice smile, Telford thought, wide and honest. He looked away quickly; there couldn't be any of that shit here. He'd decided that long ago - indulge during high school while continuing to maintain a good upstanding image because that was just what kids did, but he wasn't a kid anymore. The consequences for getting caught here - or even someone getting a whiff of the wrong idea about him - were far more serious than the potential of getting bagged driving out into the desert with another boy. Telford had planned out every excuse and story that could possibly be required. We were just going out here to smoke, sir. No, not marijuana, I can't afford to put that stuff into my body. I'm starting line. I've got a future.

We were planning to bring our girls but they bailed on us. If we had to go home early our parents would know we got ditched. So we came out here to shoot the shit. No, sir, no alcohol. You can check the vehicle. Yes, sir, it's registered to me. It was present for making starting line. I've got a future. We're doing a science project on the state of the plants out here, how they've adapted to the radiation in the soil. No, sir, absolutely no digging. Here, look, this is our collection kit. We have gloves and baggies and permission from our science teacher. His name's Mr. Monroe. No, sir, I'm not really interested in science, but if I want to get into a good college I need the grades. I'm starting line. I've got a future. I've got a future. In your world. Calling you sir. I've got a future. Performing for your amusement. I've got a future. I'm not like those other brown kids, sir. I'm one of the good ones. I'm starting line. I've got a future.

This is the shit I want to see fandom tackle more though I for sure realise how delicately it has to be handled. He's had a really rough time of it and the military doesn't exactly foster a welcoming non-racist environment so I think we should talk about those experiences more. (Fuck that "I know what makes me special" line.)

I couldn't leave Telford completely alone during his childhood so I gave him an Uncle who's a good guy and cares about Telford and wants what's best for him. He was military himself and a recipient of a Purple Heart. He helped Telford's application to join the Air Force Academy straight out of high school. For them to take someone who hasn't already got a college degree you need to tick all the boxes, and Telford is nothing if not stubborn and committed.

He'll do anything to achieve the goals he's set for himself, things others will find downright distasteful and judge him negatively for, but he's a very ends-justify-the-means type of character. If he completes his objective then it doesn't matter what he had to do or who he had to hurt or what he had to give up; it was worth it. He gets constantly frustrated by the people around him being unwilling or unable to go to the same lengths and one of the main reasons he's remained Young's friend for over two decades through all of the bullshit Young pulls is that when the chips are down, Young is also capable of doing terrible things in order to succeed.

They meet in the Air Force Academy (this specific bit isn't mine - one of Telford or Young's actors mentioned it in passing in an interview) and were assigned as 'battle buddies' during Basic which is a real life thing where you don't let the other person out of your sight - drills, meals, bathroom breaks, everything - as a training exercise to teach new recruits to always be aware of where their allies are, in preparation for firefights where everything's moving at 100mph.

Young figures Telford doesn't get along with his parents so invites him home with him for the holidays and Young's family - who are very normal and well-adjusted (no sarcasm) - pretty much adopts him, giving him the first safe place away from the military he's known since his Uncle. I wrote a short story about the first time Telford goes there called Discretion, which turned out a lot gayer than I originally intended but Telford is super gay so I guess it worked out. 🤷‍♂️ (Side note: I like writing characters with different sexualities as a writing exercise - getting them to the point where no matter how different they are they're all still in character. I've written Telford as gay - accepting of himself and in denial - straight, bi, asexual, and aromantic.)

Two snippets from my Vamp AU, both from Young's POV on the topic of Telford's parents.

down here they call us animals - Chapter 10: 1x15 Lost

The man's gaze went flat and cold so quickly it was like having the ground ripped from beneath Young's feet. He'd seen that look on his friend's face before, at his Uncle's funeral when he'd been forced by social decorum to approach his parents. Young had stuck resolutely to the man's side, unsure of what was going on but knowing he didn't like the ugly twist on Telford's parent's faces. Maybe they'd known their son liked men, it suddenly occurred to him. It took the wind out of his sails, the fact that he was threatening to out his best friend crashing down on him. Someone had done that to Camile, he remembered. There was no excuse for it.

your eyes, black like an animal - Chapter 6: 2x06 Trial And Error

Young nodded, thinking of the disgusted edge in David's parent's eyes when he'd met them at his friend's Uncle's funeral, how the father had tried to direct Young away from David's side with his eyes. They'd wanted to be alone with their son, but even Young could tell there was something not quite right with these people, so he had played dumb and bet that they wouldn't go so far as to verbalise their wish. He'd been right and he and David hadn't gone to the wake, preferring to stake out a bar with his Uncle's war buddies. A proper and right celebration he would have been proud of, one of the old men had said, raising his glass, clearly suggesting whatever the parents were getting up to right about now was the opposite. If David had wanted to talk about it he would have raised the subject and Young knew better than to press. Some things were best left buried.

I don't know whether they know he's gay or just don't like him for the previously discussed racial reasons, but a line I've got in my notes is his father saying the military was the best place he could have ended up, and he does not mean it positively.

Due in no small part to his childhood Telford has a hard time bonding with people. Young got in there at just the right time (Telford was 18 and Young was 22) plus they were basically forced to spend time together at the start. Young helped him with the team building exercises and Telford helped Young with the maths they both needed to learn in order to be pilots. (Something I think both the show and fandom overlook is that to be a pilot in the Air Force you need a lot of mathematical knowledge.) Telford's minor at the Academy was languages; it's his belief that every soldier should speak the language of wherever they're stationed, purely for the practical purpose of people will say just about anything around you if they think you can't understand them. He can speak, read, and understand English, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, Goa'uld, and Ancient.

He's gay and aromantic and spent a lot of his time at the SGC getting in the good graces of the geeks who work there as he knows they're the future of the programme. He's popular with them because a lot of the military don't respect the geeks no matter what and Telford treats them with respect unless they do something stupid. As there are scientists rotating in and out from Area 51 all the time the labs are also a good place to find people to have sex with, who he's very clear with about not wanting a relationship. I don't think he'd risk pursuing men sadly, though he would be publicly sleeping with women anyway so no one gets any funny ideas about him. And he enjoys the sexual release well enough so it's not a 100% depressing scenario.

When he imagines being in a relationship he feels ill. The expectation of marriage, two kids and a dog with a white picket fence? Nah, no American Dream™ for him, thank you very much. He likes having his own private space to come home to, and Young is the only person he'll allow within his bubble. Sometimes Young's friends are permitted by proxy, but for the most part he's an extremely private person.

He certainly hasn't escaped the toxic masculinity trap either. Whenever I have him having sex with Rush there's always an aspect of Telford believing he now in some form owns the man. That ties into him viewing both himself and everyone else as primarily commodities, a position both he and Rush are used to and therefore are very comfortable occupying. His body is a tool and he recognises the same viewpoint in Rush, which is why he's drawn to him so strongly. He certainly still respects him - there's a point in the series where something bad happens and people are trying to tell him no one could have predicted it and he's instantly like: "You saying Rush didn't see it coming?" I don't think viewing someone as a person and viewing them as a commodity are mutually exclusive.