Dereck Tumbline (Eccentriaverse)

Dereck Tumbline is a minor character that appears in Volkonir 2008, and who would have appeared in its film equivalent in 2008, had that project not been canceled. He is a Ferris State student who has often had a crush on Cassie Helm, and longs to be with her. Cassie crushes on him too, but doesn't know the extent of his true feelings. Volkonir considers using this as leverage, and states to Dereck that if he can get Cassie to change him back, he'll help arrange for Dereck to pay Cassie a visit - and to ask her out formally.

Early life
Dereck was interested in the secret operations of the world from the time he was 13 years old. Pursuing a tech degree at Ferris at the behest of his uncle Brent, who lived in the nearby small town of Paris, Dereck also takes his uncle's advice to get in touch with HanomCorp. Little does he suspect that Hanom would also be on the cutting edge of locating missing relics of Cortascian history. Reclusive, Dereck seldom went anywhere outside of class or his room - except to the bar every now and then. He developed a crush on classmate Cassie Helm, but was nervous about asking her out officially.

Aiding Volkonir
On April 14th of 2008, Volkonir was able to access the FLITE Library lab. By using the Macs in the back, he avoided detection. His return to the dark web led to him reaching out to Dereck. It didn't take long before Dereck figured out that this entity on the other end was, in fact, Prince Volkonir. The two met up the following morning, while Volkonir was hiding near a bug display in the taxidermy museum. Dereck set to work getting HanomCorp officials in touch with Volkonir, so that Hanom could get some resources soon to Big Rapids and help Volkonir out. Dereck has one wish from Volkonir though: to spy on Cassie and learn her true feelings about him.

The prince learns that Cassie does in fact have a crush, but that she's waiting for Dereck to make a move. Volkonir returns and informs Dereck of this. Dereck suggests, along with Hanom, that Volkonir should adopt an alias once he's human again: "Vincent Amadeus Mason" - "Vinny" for short. The world can't know that he's Volkonir just yet. Volkonir agrees to that alias - contingent upon becoming his old Cortascian self again.

On April 16th, however, Dereck's efforts to contact HanomCorp get intercepted. He soon discovers that there's a message to his e-mail from a "Hiktomoph" that states that he knows Dereck is housing Volkonir. The two decide that their best bet is to convince Cassie to help Volkonir, so as to keep Dereck and Hanom out of harm's way. They know that Hiktomoph now knows that Dereck and Volkonir are working together - if not also Hanom. However, Cassie isn't on Hiktomoph's radar yet.

On April 17th, Dereck leaves town for the day, on advice from Hanom. Volkonir is left to spy on Cassie - and to eventually recruit her to the cause. One afternoon, on April 18th, Volkonir catches up to Cassie in the alleyway by Big Rapids Cinema. Cassie saves Volkonir, and he returns the favor by striking down the Treaders that were chasing her. She confirms that she would like a visit from Dereck.

Come April 19th, at Volkonir's suggestion, Dereck visits Cassie outside her door. The two of them have a quick date in town, and then set to work to take Vinny to Brent's home in Paris - to use as a safehouse. Brent begins teaching Vinny how to ride a motorcycle, while Hanom helps with creating a fake identity for Volkonir's new alias - to give him further appearance of legitimacy.

Little is known of what becomes of Dereck and Cassie after helping Volkonir. It is assumed they lead mostly-normal lives.

Personality
Dereck is shy and nervous, yet remains optimistic. It's implied this optimism is rewarded in the end by Cassie accepting him as Volkonir's "reward" to her. Little else is revealed about him.

Trivia

 * The slot for Dereck was originally to be portrayed by Ferris State student Jacob Hardy. However, when all the cast ditched the project for various reasons, the 2008 short film version of Volkonir was canceled.
 * The prequel Volkonir Journals: Attempt #43 was made in its place; featuring the same actress who portrayed Katie Averes in The Blue Face Film Strips. This prequel bridged the two worlds together, allowing Volkonir and Marzwhatti to exist in the same universe.
 * The original Volkonir script from early 2008 simply dubbed him "the Reward," as Jacob wasn't meant to appear for more than a few seconds on-screen - let alone be a fully fleshed-out character. He was merely a date for Cassie, as Volkonir promised to reward her somehow for helping him.
 * The twist to this is that Volkonir himself wasn't the "reward," as was the case in many renditions of the Frog Prince fairy tale that 2008's Volkonir took inspiration from.

Dereck in video games
While custom skin overlays and the SimmyTheSim height slider are required with some other CC to download with everything intact (PC/Mac/Linux-only), Dereck Tumbline is available for download from the Sims 4 Gallery. The Volkonir Story Pack was also set up to feature him. On the Gallery, he ships with Cassie Helm as a combined household. The following information is about their Gallery upload: