Character Application for Ryslig

[followed_fires]

OOC INFORMATION
Name: 
RenMorris
Contact: 
renthemad@gmail.com
ren_morrison @ skype
ren morris @ aim
Other Characters:  none

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name:  Dale Cooper
Age: 31
Canon: Twin Peaks
Canon Point:  During the series finale. Just as he enters the Black Lodge.
Character Information:  here and the canonical autobiography. Dale is one of the leading characters of Twin Peaks but his background isn't heavily elaborated on outside of some hints. I'm also going to elaborate here since the wiki is confused on several points/doesn't go into enough detail in some areas. 

On the outside FBI Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is almost ridiculously wholesome. He's charming and gentle and quite frankly he looks (and talks) like he's just stepped out of Norman Rockwell painting.

He has a tall shadow, though.

That shadow has a name, too. It's BOB.

BOB is a demon, simply put- but I feel like that gives you wrong impression- there's no horns and pitchforks here, nothing divine either. As monstrous as he is BOB's evil is entirely human. He's vile, hungry and ancient.

Since he was small he's been haunted by premonitions and communications from beyond his understanding, his mother was also psychic and guided him until her death when he was 14. She shielded him from BOB, and died protecting him.

BOB marked Cooper as his vessel when he was just a child, something other psychics could see in him, though he himself could not. He often found himself shunned and treated with fear or outright hatred from fellow gifted people. BOB's watch on Cooper has been lifelong, serving something of a guardian angel when his life was threatened. Dale's no use to him dead, after all; he's wandered unprepared into danger and come out scarred but solid.

Dale's dedication to protecting those around him started from an early age. He was also quite sickly and small, diagnosed with severe asthma and found himself spending most of his early childhood indoors and glued to books and the television screen. Contrary to his isolated upbringing he grew up incredibly aware of the fast changing world around him. His father was a civil rights activist and war veteran, who ran a print shop that printed an independent local newspaper, passionate and dedicated to bettering the world.

This sense of justice was passed on to Dale Cooper, though it manifested in a way his father probably wouldn't have preferred. Dale wanted to protect people, he also wanted to be able to protect himself. Dale looked in his comic books and the television and saw the FBI. It's easy to see how he would have been taken in by the propaganda, sleek suits and call to action. The movie that sparked his initial interest in the FBI notably portrays them as guardians of the oppressed and disenfranchised. All very appealing things to a chronically ill autistic child.

(He of course learned differently as he grew older and his interest in joining the Bureau died out until he met Agent Windom Earle, who recruited him and hand picked him to be his partner.)

The town of Twin Peaks opened something up in Dale Cooper, and gave him a sense of home and wonder he hadn't felt since he was a child. He fell in love with the town and the people, Dale's always lost his heart easily and those big beautiful woods gobbled it up.

He was sent to investigate the murder of a young girl, Laura Palmer. He saw himself in her, the perfect small town golden girl with too many secrets.

Before the murder of Laura Palmer; BOB is a nameless entity in Dale Cooper's life. Something he can always spot flickering on the edges of crime scenes and his own dreams, a nameless beast that he often denies exists. In Twin Peaks he comes face to face with BOB, learns his name and begins to understand what exactly he is.

It makes no difference. Dale Cooper is doomed from the first step he takes in Twin Peaks, every action only ultimately leading him into the fate that has been set for him, every 'helpful' vision and spirit he sees only sending him there a little faster. He finds Laura Palmer's murderer, her father, Leland Palmer and sees BOB in the flesh for the first time.

BOB is relaxed, even as he kills Leland before leaving. Leland was never meant to be a long term arrangement, even his quest for possessing Laura Palmer was ultimately a side project, one he never truly expected success in. Cooper is here and he's already his.

Dale is eventually lead into BOB's realm, The Black Lodge by Windom Earle, once his mentor and best friend, now nothing more than a hollow puppet.

In the Black Lodge he succumbs to fear of himself in the face of his doppelganger and loses his soul to BOB. He leaves, now inhabited by BOB and setting motion for the cycle of victims to continue.

At least. That's what was supposed to have happened. He never made it to the Black Lodge, he stepped through the doors in Glastonbury Grove and ended up somewhere else.

Personality: 

Chipper, optimistic. Has a horrible sense of humor. We're talking Grade A dad jokes here. He thinks he's hilarious, and he is (but in a groan inducing kind of way.) 

Bad sweet tooth. Three slices of pie in one sitting, bad. He loves food in general, often uses it as a coping mechanism.
He loves a lot of things, really.
Most things (but especially food).
He has a real zest for life too, loves the world around him and most of the people. He's a city dweller but his job takes him everywhere across America and he enjoys nature walks and camping.

He's reserved even among close friends, though always warm and inviting and eager to help them, so its not very noticeable that he's holding back. He has a strong philosophy of self love that he's unable to fully apply to himself but happily preaches to those around him.

He quietly longs for a family and wants to be a father, he had planned on settling down in Twin Peaks.

Meticulous and prim. Total neat freak. He uses his presentation as a shield and the control he has over it helps him relax. He's fine with going with the flow, but when it comes to himself he gets agitated. He has a deep fear of losing self control. This all contributes to his obsession with self discipline and inner peace.

But that being said he doesn't take good care of himself from a health stand-point and often overworks until he shuts down. He has a deep rooted mistrust and fear of doctors. This has lead to health problems despite his best efforts. He once went over six years without seeing a dentist.

He works in Violent Crimes. It's not a good environment for him, he regularly throws himself into deeply triggering situations, using his emotional rawness in connection with his psychic abilities and intuition to solve cases. His dedication to his work is fierce and unrelenting. He strongly believes in protecting those who cannot protect themselves and is driven to make sure others don't end up hurt the same way he was.

This drive to fix and help people has directed his whole life, including his romantic relationships, nearly all of these relationships were unhealthy if not outright abusive and ended messily.

Dale is psychic and a strong sender, prone to projecting his feelings and ideas at others in moments of extreme stress or joy. He's not proud of that, he considers it wrong to influence the emotions of other people and is anxious that one day that his preconceived notions about a case could affect witnesses or other investigators.

(note, I am autistic and the character is autistic. Dale is hypersensitive to texture and tastes. He meditates as a coping mechanism to deal with overloads.)

5-10 Key Character Traits: 

Dedicated: (To the point where he's unable to take care of himself. Has kept himself working through serious injuries through sheer force of will)
Levelheaded: (He's easy going, gentle, open minded and when things get Weird he goes with the flow)
Perceptive: (Doesn't just rely on visions and his psychic abilities to solve cases, the man's as sharp as a tack and can read people like a book)
Spiritual: (Raised in a Free-Thinker household and has been exploring other religions since he was teenager, has developed his own philosophy and spirituality)
Curious: (Prone to plodding off into danger without preparation if something gets his attention)
Dreamy: (Poetic and thoughtful. Prone to romantic thinking that can cloud his perception if he gets too trusting.)
Idealistic: (Dale has dedicated his life to protecting those who can't protect themselves and holds himself and others to very high standards. He's notably more forgiving of others mistakes than his own.)
Protective: (Sees it as his responsibility to protect those around him)
Scarred: (Has been in a number of abusive relationships and near death experiences, has PTSD)
Health-Nut: (as a disabled FBI agent who refuses to see a doctor more than is absolutely necessary Dale is obsessed with maintaining his health and fitness. He does yoga regularly, jogs, etc. That being said its also important to note that he is TINY. He's 6' tall but very thin and delicately put together, a result of being deathly ill as a small child)

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, or EITHER? either

Opt-Outs:  nymph, vampire, faerie, arachne, merperson

Roleplay Sample: Test Drive

(I'd like to clarify that the timing of my replies was uncharacteristically slow. At the time of writing them (and technically posting this entry but I had it written prior) I was recovering from a major surgery and under the influence of pain pills)

 

Dale comes with a 'bonus.' BOB's level of activity in the RP itself doesn't have to be large or even at all, but I would like to write out how he works for those who want to mess around with him.
 

--BOB's Mechanics--

• A spiritual entity of fire that feeds on pain and pleasure.
• Hails from a realm called the Black Lodge. There are multiple entrances to the Lodge scattered across the world.
• There are other spirits from the Lodge but they seem to operate on different rules than BOB. Whatever exactly he is he's evolved into his own beast and is treated warily by his fellow spirits.
• The Black Lodge looks different from viewer to viewer but the version that is singular to Dale Cooper is a red curtained, chevron maze.
• BOB requires a human host to feed and hunt but can travel and watch his victims disguised as an owl.
• He's heavily associated with birds, particularly owls who serve as his eyes and ears.
• BOB operates in circular fashion, passing himself down from abuser to victim. Seeks to perpetuate his supply of hosts through calculated abuse that wears down and isolates the vessel.
• Is unable to possess bodies that he hasn't conditioned/It is extremely hard to possess bodies who haven't been conditioned. BOB burns through them in the process of trying to control them and hide himself, they break down and die.
• Commonly haunts hospitals, fist appeared to Dale Cooper as a doctor when he was a child. Vessels with a wide range of possible targets are ideal. Leland was a lawyer who often traveled with his wealthy employer, Dale Cooper is an FBI Agent etc.

 

PAST VESSELS

- Dale's Maternal Grandfather – Possessed. Life and ultimate fate unknown.

- Dale's Mother – Unknown if she was taken or not. If so possibly the only vessel to escape from BOB and live a healthy life (for a time, until she died trying to keep herself from being repossessed when Dale was 14)

- Betty/unknown - a young women Dale meets while volunteering at a psychiatric ward in a local hospital. Her real name is unkown, Dale doesn't record it.

- Lena Fraiser – Dated Dale in college. Hospitalized herself after trying to burn down her parents' home and assaulting Dale.

- Windom Earle - Became vulnerable to his influence when he was studying the woods of Twin Peaks on a government project. That opening allowed him to possess him to get closer to Dale Cooper but he burned through him quickly, leaving Windom a wreck of who he used to be and ended with Windom trying to kill Dale (and successfully killing his own wife, Caroline) to spare him from being his next vessel.

- Leland Palmer – Like Laura and Dale was targeted from childhood. Appears to have been under BOB's control for the past 40 years or so. Exact number of victims unknown.

- Laura Palmer – Never taken. Chooses death over possession. BOB was absolutely obsessed with her but she was also an experiment (in his words) he never truly expected that he'd be able to overtake her, but wanted to watch what would happen to her under his influence. “Sometimes life is about what happens before death. I wanted to see what could be done.”

- Dale Cooper – Not taken, yet.