Roleplay book

The Marine Biologist

"I know I don't deserve forgiveness. I would give anything to take back that day."

Name: Valerie Bachelder

Age: 47

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual

Appearance: Media

Personality: Valerie isn't a fan of meeting new people, but he's pretty friendly with the people he does know. He's introverted and prefers to be at home or at work rather than socialize, unless his friends actually invite him to things. He loves learning new things and watching the way the animals they monitor interact, which makes him love his job a lot. He's fascinated by the nature underwater, and never misses an opportunity to dive into the ocean and see it closely. He's adventurous when it comes to diving and swimming, and sometimes his fascination could cause him to act recklessly. Other than his work, he doesn't really have anything that interests him, so he gets really bored whenever he's not working, but he lacks the motivation to find new interests. He has a bad habit of putting himself down or showing signs of self-hatred. He hates bullying with passion and will not tolerate bullying of any kind.

Background: Valerie was born into a middle-class family as the second child. His mother passed away when he was 4 years old, and his father and older sister took care of him as he grew up. He always showed interest in biology as he was growing up and when he turned 18 he went to study biology at university, aiming to get a degree in marine biology since that was the most interesting field in his eyes. His father passed away when he was 20 years old, and after that his sister became his only family, though they didn't see each other very often. After getting his degree, he began working with a group of marine biologists and they researched mostly dolphins and whales, though they did monitor the fish in the reef from time to time. While working there, he began dating one of his co-workers and eventually they got married. They had two daughters, but their younger daughter, Stella, was a premature baby and ended up suffering several complications because of that. Due to these complications, she spent most of her life in hospitals and eventually died shortly after her first birthday. Valerie and his partner separated when Stella was a baby and they shared custody over their two children. Valerie's partner passed away a few months after Stella's death, and Valerie was left to take care of Mino, their oldest child, by himself. Two years after Stella's death, Mino disappeared while playing in the park. The police were unable to find her, and Valerie blamed himself for this, seeing that he was supposed to look after her, but he was too distracted to pay attention. He became much more closed off after that incident, and lost interest and motivation in anything that wasn't related to his work.

Likes: The ocean, diving, biology, fish and other sea creatures

Dislikes: Parties, airplanes, talking about his previous marriage, alcohol

Theme song: Carry – Tori Amos

Scenario 1: You're the police officer who was put in charge of searching for Valerie's daughter, and though it's been almost a year since she disappeared, you never gave up on that case. You've been in contact with Valerie to inform him if you ever found a lead. One day you figure something out and thinking that it could help solve the case and find the girl, you contact Valerie immediately to let him know. (If you're choosing that scenario, read the background in the chapter named "The Snowflake".)

Scenario 2: You're a new biologist in Valerie's group, and it's your first week working with this group. So far you were fitting in with the others, but you noticed that Valerie was acting cold towards you and wasn't engaging in getting to know you. You approach him while he's sitting in the area below the deck, watching one of the screens that were showing the reef through an underwater camera, and decide to try to have a conversation with him.

Scenario 3: Make your own.