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[worn_wings]

Player Info

Name: Alms
Age: 27
Contact:

gossamerrain
symbolicalating [at] gmail [dot] com
errantpastor [NOTE: I don't get notifs for @pings on plurk, so it's not a reliable means of getting my attention]
cold dry pieces @ AIM

Characters Already in Teleios: nobody!
Reserve: 02.03.2014

Character Basics:

Character Name: Daryl Dixon
Journal: worn_wings
Age: Not specified- probably somewhere in his mid-30's
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Canon Point: End of season 3
Debt:

Class A: 500 years (so, so many walkers... plus, you can count a couple betrayals... His brother would say so.)
Class B: 12 years (a generous handful of assaults, lots of breaking and entering abandoned houses...)
Class C: 1 year, six months (just for good measure. Mostly poaching and trespassing, plus (for funsies) four counts of:)

wearing human ears as jewelry

GRAND TOTAL: Five hundred thirteen years and six months

Canon Character Section:

History:

here is a wiki link because otherwise all my examples in the below sections will get mad repetetive. If you'd prefer a written out one I would be happy to provide it, tho!

Personality:

At first glance, Daryl is not the most likeable guy. He's gruff, blunt, and deeply suspicious of strangers; he doesn't make an effort to be polite, and (especially early on) he has an ugly temper. He’s outright belligerent, in fact. People have a tendency to write him off as a dumb hick with anger issues... particularly people familiar with his older brother Merle. While Daryl is understandably devoted to his brother, he's a better guy than people give him credit for. He's fiercely loyal to those he does trust, willing to risk his own safety to protect them, and intent on ensuring the survival of his entire group-- not just himself.

Daryl is more a follower than a leader; once he places his trust in someone, he is incredibly loyal, even in the face of personal misgivings. His trust can be shaken, but it takes a hell of a lot. When we meet him outside Atlanta, Daryl has largely been following his brother's lead; they are socially distant from the other survivors, and as is later revealed are intending to rob the camp and abandon them. (There is some suggestion this is a long-lasting pattern; Daryl offhandedly mentions that he could only play with other neighborhood kids after Merle left, which admittedly probably has as much to do with Merle being abrasive and the others not liking him as it does Merle being controlling.)

Merle claims that Daryl doesn't go through with robbing the camp because he isn't there to help; but really, after Merle's disappearance, it doesn't take long for Daryl to begin to bond with the others. After they leave Atlanta, he risks himself to save T-Dog from a herd of walkers, and provides him with antibiotics for the infection he subsequently develops, in spite of the fact that T-Dog was largely responsible for abandoning Merle on the rooftop. He works harder than anyone to find Sophia, following her tracks, going out alone to hunt for her, and making an effort to keep people's hopes up about the chances of finding her alive.

The shock of finding her as a walker in Hershel’s barn hits him hard, and at first he withdraws from the group over it, refusing to help them look for other people (since the people on this show have a really awful habit of running off into danger) and being outright cruel to Carol when she tries to connect with him. He tells her, repeatedly, that she should have been more careful, should have paid more attention to Sophia, and they wouldn’t have ended up in this mess… even though they ended up in this mess because of a herd of walkers…. which Carol takes with remarkable grace, probably because she’s smart enough to know he’s lashing out because of his own issues. Carol and Daryl were the only ones whose losses had any ambiguity; everyone else who died had the decency to do so obviously. If it was so ridiculous to hope for Sophia’s safe return, then hoping for Merle to come back is… well. (And maybe if he’d paid more attention and given Merle more grief for acting like an asshole… well.) He’s grieving, in his own way, for both their losses, but he’s much more inclined to lash out and withdraw, becoming visibly uncomfortable with others’ expressions of sympathy and empathy. He gets over the worst of it because the group needs him, and because he’s not really that selfish, when it comes down to it. Even if now and then he’d like to be.

His position within the group is further defined by the growing amount of trust Rick places in him. Daryl respects him as a leader because Rick insists on a moral code even in the face of utter anarchy, and more personally, because Rick risked his own life to look for Merle, when nearly everyone else is against it. Though initially the group tends to look to both Rick and Shane for guidance, given their law enforcement background, as friction between them drives Shane into reckless, self-serving behavior that endangers the group, Rick begins to treat Daryl as his second in command-- to the point of asking him to act in his stead so Rick can keep an eye on his erstwhile best friend. Initially, still withdrawn and grieving (which is to say being a massive angry asshole to anyone who comes near him), he resists it; eventually, he accepts that if the group’s broken he needs to have a hand in fixing it. In a fucked up way, Daryl is well suited to the end of the world-- he’s a much more productive and respected member of society, with skills that are highly suited to surviving and protecting those around him. It takes some getting used to.

By the time they're forced off Hershel's farm-- after Shane's death, and the general traumatic destruction that accompanies it-- most of the friction between Daryl and the rest of the group has eased, and he more or less remains Rick's right hand man. He's certainly competent enough to warrant it, and being given a measure of responsibility ties him more closely to the group.

He does grow to be more independent through the course of the series-- when Merle shows up again in Woodbury, Daryl takes a hard stand against Rick's refusal to allow Merle to join the group living in the prison. However, although he initially chooses his brother over his friends, he is also reluctant to follow Merle's lead; he insists on saving strangers from walkers, he defends the prison group when Merle insults them, and refuses to be drawn into the same unbalanced relationship they used to have. Ultimately, Daryl decides his views are more in line with Rick's, and returns to the prison with Merle in tow, and works to make up for Merle's past mistakes. He never makes excuses for them, but he's determined to find a way to fit his brother into the community there.

Overall, though, his loyalty lies with his people-- particularly after losing Merle for good. In the prison, he makes an effort to get to know everyone. He's got a particular soft spot for kids; he makes an effort to comfort Carl after his mother dies, and is fiercely protective of baby Judith, whom he affectionately calls Lil Ass-Kicker. He feels every loss acutely. When someone jeopardizes their safety, his temper makes a reappearance; however, his priority is always the common good. (As an example, later in the series, one of the newer individuals risks the safety of the group on a run to get medication to quell a lethal epidemic at the prison, to get and keep a bottle of alcohol; Daryl seriously considers leaving him there on the spot, but ultimately decides he'll just kick his ass after everyone's healthy.)

Though many of his undesirable traits become less pronounced throughout the course of the series, it's worth noting that it's partly circumstantial-- we start to see more of him among people he trusts. Among strangers, he's still not terribly forthcoming-- understandably so, since strangers are frequently a threat where he's from-- and, in general, isn't likely to try to disprove whatever assumptions they make about him.

Powers/Abilities:

Daryl has no supernatural powers to lose.

As far as mundane abilities go he is a definite asset to your post-apocalyptic survival team. He's an excellent tracker, an experienced marksman (his weapon of choice is a crossbow, but he's just as good with a gun), and good at scraping by with limited resources. In close quarters, he's no slouch with a knife or blunt object or, you know, whatever. Improvisation is a necessary survival skill where he's from. He can hotwire a car and field-dress a deer. Or a freshly-dead walker.

Also, he rides a motorcycle, which obviously gives him +5 to coolness.

Appearance:

Daryl is played by Norman Reedus, which is to say he looks like this.

He's about 5'10", fairly lean, well-muscled but not bulky. Life in the post-zombie-apocalypse world doesn't offer many luxuries, so he's definitely on the skinny side, and tends toward being a bit unkempt-- shaggy hair, facial scruff. He's got a few tattoos, most notably two winged figures on his back, which share space with some significant scarring from abuse inflicted by his father.

CR AU

(Section not applicable)

Game You’re Transferring CR from:

How has your character changed from their canon self?

Are they gaining any abilities from their time in game? Did the game setting take something from them?

Samples:

Actionspam Sample:

Test Drive Meme Actionspam!

Prose Sample:

When Merle’s trail goes cold Daryl figures he’s got nothing left to lose, so he sticks with the sheriff and the rest of them. He goes on. That’s what you do. He could hare off after his brother with nothing but his bow and the clothes on his back but the chances don’t seem good. He's a damn good tracker-- and more important, he knows Merle better than anyone does-- but the way things are now that doesn’t mean a thing. He could spend his life looking and never catch up, and likely it'd be a lot shorter that way. So it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t owe them anything. Doesn’t matter that it’s always been him and Merle against the world. He stays. He fights with them. He runs with them.

Daryl knows mostly they’re glad Merle’s gone, and the truth is he doesn’t blame them. He loves his brother but that don’t make him a saint, and some ways it’s easier now. There aren’t enough people left in the world to hold grudges. There’s safety in numbers; he knows that, so he tries to keep the numbers up. He protects the men who left his brother to die (who are, admittedly, also the men who risked themselves to go back) and when the little girl goes missing he goes after her because that’s what needs to be done. Doesn’t have to be personal. (He tells himself it’s not, but he goes out hunting rather than listen to Carol cry. He’s doing his best to keep her from suffering this loss, he can’t have her put her grief on him. No one else shares his.)

But as time goes on they all lose enough that they've got to share what little they got left. Looking back, he can't quite mark the moment when they all became family. That’s what it is, though: all of them against the world. Every loss is his, too; same with every little victory, and sometimes that’s all there is that keeps them going. A safe place to crash for the night, a solid meal. Daryl just accepts that, quietly, and does what’s needed. Just like always. That’s how they get by. Isn’t time to get soft about it, which suits him fine, but it keeps them together, keeps them sane. As sane as anyone can stay, now.

It’s why he expects someone will give a shit on his account, when Merle turns up. He’s not expecting open arms and instant forgiveness. Daryl’s the last one who’d say Merle didn’t fuck up a dozen times over; he's got bruises to back that up. All he wants is a chance to make it work, to kick Merle's ass into shape and make him earn his place, and when no one stands up for him-- not even Rick, who he's followed this long, who might as well be Daryl’s brother himself-- he figures he's been wrong about picking his friends and he leaves like it's easy, like it doesn't hurt at all, because he can't make that choice again.

(Except he has. It's picking between family and family, even if only one's blood. They go back because he can't be the kind of man who walks out on his own.)

And for a minute he lets himself believe maybe he’s got something after all, maybe it’ll work out, maybe this is just growing pains and they’ll get through it and go on like they always do. He hasn’t spent more than a minute feeling selfish in the last year-- no room for it--but this, he’ll fight for. That glimmer of hope, it cracks a little when Glenn tells him what happened in Woodbury. More when he talks with Merle. He wants his brother back. He’s been carrying that since Atlanta; the grief, the not knowing, feeling like a damn fool for thinking there was a chance Merle was still out there somewhere. It’s worse, having it close and unattainable. Not knowing hurt, too, but it turns out it was easier.

He knows he’s gonna come out on the wrong side of this when Rick changes his mind about giving up Michonne. If he’s honest, he’s known for a while; but going out after them, he can’t lie anymore to himself. He knows Merle better than anyone-- which maybe isn’t so well at all, they’ve never been too alike, but he’s not really surprised when he finds her on her own. It’d be a relief-- it wouldn’t be right the other way-- except it means that stubborn son of a bitch went off on his lonesome, and…
He tells her not to let anyone follow him because he knows what he’s gonna find.

When it’s done, he ought to be angrier, he thinks, or miserable; the truth is all that has bled away already and he’s just tired. Worn down and hollow. They’re all tired, living like this, but sometimes it’s easier to bear. Maybe that quiet little shred of hope meant more than he realized; maybe losing it means rock bottom for real.

But it’s not that simple.

He goes on, because that’s what he does, and he goes home, because somehow they’ve managed to make one. Because he’s got that much.

Living like this, you just keep finding new things to cling to, ‘til they become new things to lose.