➶ ][ driftfleet application

[worn_wings]

OUT OF CHARACTER:
Name/Handle: Alms
Contact: symbolicalating [at] gmail, PM a journal, or errantpastor on plurk
Reference: the calls are coming from inside the house
Other characters: Han Solo ][ Star Wars ][ straightouttacarbonite

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Daryl Dixon
Character journal: worn_wings
Series name: The Walking Dead
Canon notes: End of episode 7.15

Species: Human, but he is infected with a virus that will reanimate the dead, so optimistically think of him as a future zombie?

History: a wild wiki link appears

Personality: There are just some people who are better off after the end of the world.

Before the dead rose and civilization went to Hell, Daryl was pretty much nobody: no career, no lasting relationships except with his neglectful father and his asshole brother, not much of a future; he was closed-off, suspicious, and prone to anger issues. He could've ended up on a bad path-- nearly did, almost followed Merle's lead in robbing and abandoning the group by the quarry-- but things went a different way.

Joining up with that group of survivors outside Atlanta gave Daryl the opportunity to grow into a much better man. It helped that his top-notch survival skills were suddenly very much in demand; being good at something, being regarded with respect rather than derision, made him want to be worth that. As they traveled from the quarry to the farm to the prison, he became closer and more responsible for not only the core group but everyone who joined them. He took a position on the leading council at the prison, and knew everybody that lived with them-- their names, their stories, their needs.

Which made losing that completely devastating.

After the prison fell, Daryl blamed himself for not doing more to protect it, for being unable to save anyone. In the immediate aftermath, having Beth to look after gave him a way to ground himself-- Daryl is always at his best when he has someone else to protect. After losing her, he lost a lot of his motivation-- fell in with a terrible crowd until he was reunited with his family.

Eventually they found Alexandria, which was, let's say, a mixed blessing. They absolutely needed a new place to settle; a harsh summer drought meant no food and little water, so life on the road wasn't an option. But the protected naivety of the people there set Daryl on edge-- he reacted suspiciously, refusing to fall in line and clean up and pretend like things were all right. Eventually he did settle in, starting to forge bonds with other residents and find his place. He became one of Alexandria's recruiters, focused on finding and vetting new people to bring into the community. Cautiously optimistic, he came to believe they needed more people to really build a community.

A nice idea, but it went... poorly.

First, Alexandria was attacked by a group who called themselves Wolves, who found the community after Daryl and his recruiting partner narrowly escaped from one of their traps... Later, Daryl tried to invite a man named Dwight to join them, but ended up double-crossed, his bow and motorcycle stolen. Shortly thereafter they had their first proper encounter with the group called the Saviors-- the start of a long, bitter battle with many losses on both sides.

It left him way more wary, way less optimistic, and-- having lost so much-- absolutely determined not to give any more ground.

Overall, Daryl is rough around the edges but has a good heart. He's incredibly loyal-- once you earn his trust it's hard to lose it. He's protective of those he considers family, and in general he's at his best when he has someone else to take care of. Skills-wise he's more than capable of surviving on his own, but he needs the motivation of having others to look after to really want to keep going. Around strangers, he's prone to be suspicious and standoffish-- now more than ever-- but he does generally warm to people in the end, whether or not he wants to.

In general he tries to maintain a stoic exterior, but he feels things keenly-- it's just that he's disinclined to show it, especially in front of people he doesn't know and trust. He's got a dark sense of humor and deadpan delivery. It's not just the whole end-of-the-world thing that makes him wary around strangers-- having been raised with the notion that showing emotion is a sign of weakness, he has a difficult time being open. Grief and guilt weigh especially heavily on him, particularly at this canon point when there are so many recent, intense losses.

Although he'd definitely say he doesn't care what people think of him, there's no doubt that others' opinions do a fair amount to shape him-- whether it's that he stubbornly wants to disprove people who write him off as a dumb hick, or how much he's grown and improved when surrounded by people who think he's worthy of respect. That contrariness cuts both ways-- when they end up in Alexandria and all these strangers are suspicious of him, his reaction is to pace like a trapped animal and butcher small animals on the neat suburban porch. He's disinclined to lie, or to hide anything about who he is, just to fit in. Daryl's well aware that things could have gone differently in his life-- it's mostly luck that he's in Alexandria and not a Savior himself.

At his current canon point, though... Daryl's got a lot of anger. His main motivation at home is killing Negan. He's worried about protecting his community, but that's about it-- he doesn't really care about his own survival, he's disinclined to forgive, he'll do anything it takes to end the conflict. He's way more reckless and impulsive-- tendencies that were curbed by the responsibility and stability of his position, when they were in the prison. Now, he's less optimistic about the future-- or rather he knows the only way they'll have a future is with the Saviors obliterated.

Abilities: Nothing too unusual-- he's physically very strong, a trained and practiced marksman, knows a lot about survival. Great at tracking and trapping animals. He's a pretty decent mechanic-- not that it's likely to help with spaceships, but he can get an abandoned car running or build a motorcycle from mismatched parts.

Augment Skillset: Security, please!

Sample:

Spring Test Drive
some TFLN stuff
a random meme