Post by morpheus on Jul 29, 2010 2:06:30 GMT -5
Yosef “Joseph” Chalomel ben-Lailah
Crafty, Suave, Creative
Crafty, Suave, Creative
BACK TO BASICS ' '
Full Name: Yosef Chalomel ben-Lailah
Significance of Name: Yosef in the Tanakh was the son of Jacob who could interpret dreams and did so for pharaoh and bunch of pharaoh’s servants. He also had a number of dreams himself showing his eventual place of power in Egypt. It seemed like an appropriate name for a dream god. His middle name is split up into two Hebrew words, the first being Chalom (meaning dream) and the last being el (meaning god). Together it means “Dream god.” Ben-Lailah means child of the night and Nyx, in some versions, was Morpheus’ mother.
Nickname(s): Joseph, Joe, Jo-Jo, Joey
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Orientation: Heterosexual
Grade: Senior
Celeb you're using: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Deity: Morpheus - Greek
Title of your deity: Greek god of dreams
STRIKE A POSE ' '
Physical Appearance:Joseph is used to walking all over people. As the slightly older twin, he was given rights over his young brother. He was given the best food, clothes, toys, etc. While he’s still a lanky guy, built much like his malnourished brother Daniel, he has some tone; able to handle himself well should be ever find himself in a fight. He has the same Sunkist skin that people of Ashkenazi descent seem to have, the kind where he could walk in the sun and not fry. He used to fight acne as a kid, but that’s petered out now, though there is the occasional pock mark here and there. He has a shapely nose and a mouth that can smirk like no one’s business. His face is a tad angular and his ears rather big, but he figures it’s a small consolation prize. After all, Daniel was blessed with a melon of a head. Joseph had dark brown hair, almost block, that he usually combs back and gels it to helmet hardness. If he were to let it run free, he would have curly locks of hair, but they get in his face a lot, so he prefers to go without. His eyes are smallish and are colored like fresh almonds straight from the shell.
He’s not a bulky kid, but that suits him well. He is very well dressed though. He manages to procure money somehow and is able to afford nice things. He works out, to a degree, using kick boxing and good diet. He’s pretty tall at 5’10”, though his brother is an inch and a half taller. It doesn’t matter much. He’s still able to control the poor boy like no one’s business. The only thing about Joseph that hints to a former life of squander is his hands. He has rough hands that have seen a childhood of hard work. No matter how much he lathers his hands in ever lotion imaginable, they remain rough, like a scar reminding him that he wasn’t always a rich bastard. It drives him crazy and is one of two things he tries to hide from the public. It’s also the one thing Daniel has as ammunition again his brother’s sometimes sadistic mannerisms.
LET'S GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER ' '
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Personality Description: Joseph was always alpha dog. In his family, he got what he wanted one way or another. He was king over his younger twin and he knew how to finagle his way around the family. Though they were poor, he always found a way to make money, generally in a less than kosher manner. Growing up with a devoutly Jewish mother had virtually no effect on his morals, as he ran wild behind her back. He loves luxury and will go to great lengths to get it.
He also loves women. He finds that going into a woman’s dreams is the most fascinating thing ever, as close as he’s ever gotten to sex (though he’ll never admit that). All women, even the homely ones, are goddesses in his eyes. He also sees them as a challenge. The girls tend to see through his bullshit fairly early on and the one who does usually catches his eye. Smart women are a turn-on for him and he’ll pursue them relentlessly (though not to the point of stalking… he has rules).
Because of his ability and his deity, Joseph is creative. The dream-world is “pure creation.” He can do anything, make anything, be anything, and conceive of anything. He’s able to take that into the real world and think outside the box generally better than most. Also, being in people’s dreams gives him great inspiration and inspires him to think of complex new ideas. No one is protected from their dreams, so it’s a free-for-all when he’s in their mind.
In his quest to have the best, he doesn’t mind stepping on people to get what he wants. He uses his brother relentlessly. Since he can’t make people call asleep, he relies on making Daniel do it for him. Most times, it works. Daniel tends to be his lapdog. Joseph is suave enough to con a person into doing exactly what he wants. Not to mention, he can sneak into their dreams and see what they want on a most primal level.
Despite his manipulative nature, he really does love his twin. Aware that they look nothing alike, he’s quick to claim Dan as his brother and would always choose him over anything or anyone else.
Likes:
- Night time
- Snooping in people's dreams
- Messing around with people's dreams
- Trapping people in their dreams
- Getting his brother to help him trap people in their dreams
- Inserting ideas and garnering secrets from people's dreams
- Art
Dislikes:
- Day-time
- Feeling powerless
- People snooping in his head
- Telepaths
- Sleep aids
- Vegetables
Strength:
- Suave
- Crafty
- Creative
- Smart
- Born Romantic
Weaknesses:
- Manipulative
- Doesn't see people as "people"
- Sneaky
- Uses his brother
- Has difficulty finding someone to trust him enough to show his romantic side too, mainly due to the aforementioned reasons.
Fears: His secret being found out.
Goal: Fulfilling his secret. (Believe me, it's not what you think)
Power/Ability: Dream Manipulation- Once his twin Daniel has put the person to sleep, Joseph goes to work. He doesn't need to touch the person and has about the same range as Daniel. He’s a skilled crafter of dreams, able to put person in a sort of waking life, unable to wake up from their dreams, but waking up in a dream within a dream. He can appear to a person in their dreams and more or less take over their unconscious mind. He can insert ideas into people’s minds as well as extract ideas based on their dreams. He can weave universes in their minds and keep them there forever if he wanted. He can terrorize them with nightmares or give wet dreams and anything in between. Joseph is the master of the dream domain and is nigh unstoppable when he’s at work in a person’s mind. Even if they are conscious and know what he’s doing, such as those with superhuman awareness, there’s nothing they can do about it, as he and his twin can make the person’s body a prison if they so choose. Down side is that it all only works when a person is sleeping. Outside of the dream-world, he’s powerless.
WELCOME TO MY LIFE ' '
Place of Origin: Tel Aviv, Israel
History:
Joseph ben-Lailah was one of two born to Nishia ben-Lailah. The other was his fraternal twin Daniel. Joseph never knew his father and quite frankly didn’t care as much as Dan did. He overheard his mother once talking about their father, saying that he was unimportant, and that was enough for Joseph. He grew up in a big family with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles, including a grandfather who suffered from dementia.
Joseph seemed to be a schemer from the womb. He was always looking for a way to get ahead in life. Growing up in a poor neighborhood in Tel Aviv, watching his mother work her hands to the bone in order to provide for he and his brother, Joseph wanted to never be that person. Sure, his six aunts and uncles were always around to help, as were a number of cousins, but a pauper's life was never good enough for Joseph.
His life changed during a raid. As children, he and his brother ended up getting stuck in the midst of a riot. It was then that his brother's ability, sleep induction, kicked in, as a crazed rioter attempted to attack both Joseph and Daniel. However, the man fell instantly asleep when Daniel panicked. It was then that Joseph had an idea.
Shortly after, Joseph began prodding Daniel to practice his newfound ability. It was then, while practicing on one of the neighborhood kids, that Joseph slapped the boy on the cheek to see how deep his sleep was, when he was able to see something. It was a boy flying with a bunch of lizards attacking him. Joseph instantly pulled his hand away. Upon further investigation, Joseph found out that the boy had been dreaming about the exact same thing Joseph had seen. Thinking he was somehow telepathic, Joseph tried seeing the thoughts of other people to no avail. Being fairly quick on the uptake, Joseph tried the same thing again with another sleeping subject, exploiting his brother's ability. It was dreams that Joseph was seeing
After a time, Joseph realized that he could not only go into a person's dreams, but control them. He could make them so lifelike that a person didn't know they were dreaming. Likewise, he could make them terrifying enough to drive a person mad. Since the subconscious was more open to suggestion when a person was asleep, Joseph could, to a certain degree, insert an idea and make them do what he wanted. He could also extract information from their subconscious, being able to discern the messages in dreams. Joseph was a god in the dreamworld. The only person it never worked on was his brother Daniel. Likewise, Daniel's ability didn't work on him.
With further experimentation, Joseph figured out that his ability grew stronger when he was asleep as well. Since Dan's ability didn't work on him, Joseph turned to hallucinogenics and other illicit drugs. While high, his ability was much stronger, to the point where he literally was a god in people's dreams. It also expanded his creativity, giving him ideas for new and creative ways to control people through their dreams.
Then, his cousin Bathsheba got involved with the wrong man, a Palestinian 'terrorist.' Knowing full well what the twins could do, both were entreated to take care of this man. Joseph had to think about it. He retreated to an elm tree, something that wasn't native to Israel and was wilting. He'd always come to this tree to meditate, get high, and think of new dreams. Eventually, he came up with the idea of a dream within a dream.
Daniel was told to put the young man to sleep and Joseph was to make a dream so real that the young man would think he was awake. Everytime he was to wake up, he would wake up in a new dream, a waking life, but never truly coming back to reality. It all went to plan. The young man slipped into a deep coma, unable to wake due to the combined power of the twins.
Daniel was broken because of it, but Joseph wanted to see how deep he could make a dreamer slip into a dream state. He honed his skill, putting people to sleep, running amok, inserted ideas and extracting them. It was because of him that Pantheon eventually found both boys.
CONNECTION TO THE MYTH ' '
- Morpheus and Hypnos may have been the sons of Nyx alone and the twins were the sons of their mother with an unknown father.
- Morpheus and Hypnos had six aunts and four brothers, just like the twins.
- Their grandfather was Chaos and the twins’ grandfather is an unpredictable guy with dementia.
- Morpheus controls dreams and Joseph is the dream manipulator.
-Morpheus may also have been the son of Hypnos and therefore subject to him. In this case, it’s severely reversed, as Joseph is the more dominant of the twins, bossing his brother around.
-Morpheus was one of three dream gods. He specialized in realistic dreams. Joseph can make dreams so realistic that a person doesn’t know they’re dreaming.
- Morpheus was said to live with someone named “Poppy,” possibly referring to the opium plant. Joseph, like his brother Daniel, is much stronger in dream manipulation when he’s high.
-Joseph always aspired to have wealth and power. In the Greek dreamworld, the gates are made of highly polished horn and sawn ivory, a luxury in Ancient Greece.
- Morpheus and the other Oneiroi (dream gods) were said to hang their dreams on a wilting elm. One of Joseph’s favorite place to sit as a child was under and imported elm, that was wilting due to not being in it’s native habitat. It was also where he found his best ideas.
ROLEPLAYING SAMPLE ' '
See Brigitte.
BEHIND THE SCENE ' '
Your name: Chantal
Age: Giraffe
How long have you been RPing? Abraham Lincoln
Where/How did you find us? Bastille Day
