Josephine Delilah Fowler

Full Name: Josephine(Josie) Delilah Fowler

Aliases: Carmen Rose

Born: 1922, Newport Rhode Island

Family: John Fowler (Father), Louise Fowler (Mother)

Occupation: Performer/Singer

Sexuality: Pansexual (She’s had some...interesting experiences, to say the least)

Appearance  

Gender: Female

Age: 29 (In 1951)

Height: 5’3”

Weight: 136 (Her bosom consists most of her heavy weight.)

Hair: Born blonde, she used to wear it jaw length and curled, though ends up dying her hair jet black and allows it to grow out just past her shoulders.

Eye colour: Light blue, her pupils also tinted (fairly poor eyesight that goes unprescribed)

Race: Caucasian (American)

History:

John Fowler, a wealthy tycoon from Southampton, England and owner of Fowler Textiles landed a first class, one-way ticket on one of the world's most fantastic marvels to date with his wife- The RMS Titanic. Not a soul could have assumed the horrors that would occur half-way through the journey, April 15th, 1912 while sailing through the chilled Atlantic waters.

An unforeseen iceberg would result in the demise of 1,503 passengers, including John’s wife. Despite women and children being the primary focus when it came to filling the life-boats, John’s status and first class ticket saved his life by a hair.

Mourning the loss of his wife and taking time to recover from the traumatic experience, he settled into Newport Rhode Island rather than following his original plan to further his business in New York City.

Eventually, after extensive psychotherapy with a beautiful woman named Louise and trudging through the incident with as much mental fortitude a determined widower could muster, he remarried in 1918.

The couple was blessed with Josephine Delilah Fowler on a particularly chilly winter morning, December 14th, 1922.

Being born into a wealthy ‘old money’ family would sound pleasant to anyone on the outside looking in, but Josie grew up feeling confined and controlled by her parents. Her mother was absently particular to manipulation, and her father was consistently suffocating the poor girl with ‘well meanings’ that felt like a ball and chain around her ankle. Perhaps it was because he didn’t want to lose her, or perhaps he just felt as though he needed to control every aspect of her life since he’d nearly lost his own. Whatever the case, they expected her to obey their every wish to the point they began speaking of ‘arranged marriage to a wealthy suitor with a monumental status’.  

Young Josie however, had other aspirations in mind; her sweet, tantalizing voice shepherded a fondness towards singing. It was her passion, her emotions and her very being- it was her escape. She wanted nothing more than to be an entertainer.

Nonplussed by this notion, her parents all but rejected her aspirations and persisted with their own goals in mind. ‘You’ll never make it out there,’ they would say in an attempt to shut her hopes down before she could fail on her own. The steadfastness of the girl led her unaffected by their words of destruction, and she continued to argue for her right to choose to do as she pleases.

That’s when the beatings started, John’s belt making contact with her pasty, sensitive skin more than enough times to ideally break her spirit.

This only pushed her further into her own wants, needs, desires and ultimately, rebellion. At the ripe age of 17, Josie cleverly forged her father’s signature and dipped into the family savings, running away to John’s original destination; New York City, to pursue her career as an entertainer without any chains holding her back.

‘Carmen Rose’ is what she called herself, an entire life, she fabricated in resolve to forget the past and move forwards with something new.

It didn’t take her long to start spending the money on various vices such as drugs and alcohol, meanwhile reluctantly shedding her clothes to those that would promise her a job. Lies, most of them, merely a way for sick bastards to indulge in their ‘beautiful teenage girl’ fantasies. Josie found herself diving into harder drugs as an escape from the predatory men besieging her, though hardly let it destroy her as much as it may have another poor young woman in the same trap. Instead, she used every last penny she had over the next four years to stay alive and achieve that singing career she so deeply longed for.

It couldn’t have come soon enough; just as she was succumbing to hopelessness and was unable to pay her next rent, she was hired on as a Burlesque Dancer- a pity bargain from one of the countless men who offered her her dreams come true and failed to follow through.

Not quite what she had in mind, but a leg-in to the entertainment business regardless which was strides ahead of where she’d been struggling for years previously.

Another 2 years, 24 year old Josie figured her dreams to sing for an audience were nothing but a thing of the past. Stuck as naught more than a background burlesque dancer within the cabaret, she hardly had any opportunity to show that she actually had a talent of her own, a gift she yearned to share with the world.

It was only when she met Fenneden Fergus, the club’s new permanent tailor, did she feel truly seen and heard by someone.

She’d nearly given up on devotion, intimacy and courtship and merely indulged in others’ sexual desires at this point, but this man seemingly only had eyes for her and her alone. To say it was flattering would have been an understatement, and quickly she fell prey to his romantic gestures. Despite being 4 years her junior, he carried himself in a way around her that no other man she’d met bothered, treated her with tender love and respect, showered her with gifts and roses- everything she could have wanted was hers. What really won her over, however, and thrusted her into a position where she fell head over heels, was when he surprised her with a presentation to sing in front of her cabaret co-workers.

Finally.

Finally she sang her little heart out dawned in an especially tailored costume, all her emotions and pains expressed through her divine voice, the audience captivated. It was because of him that she was picked up as the star of their next musical show, not a soul wanting to let her authenticity go to waste.

The relationship itself was like a dream to her at first, though was on the steady decline once her addiction to the vices were so blatantly exposed. It stressed Fenneden to see her nothing short of an awful mess nearly every weekend night, vomit smeared bathroom tiles the least of his worries. Watching him pull away from her in repulsion only encouraged her music, though by proxy, her addictions all the same.

After breaking up and finding their way back together again through a song she wrote, she vowed to curb the more prominent addictions and had been successful for months- which pulled Fenneden back in closer to her than ever. ‘A good thing,’ she’d thought, until one night, she woke up tied to a chair in the basement. The next few hours would be fragments of time she’d never forget for the rest of her life; her ‘boyfriend’ refused to release her, a harrowing look within his soulless, depraved gaze. He prattled on about how beautiful she was now that she was pure, how he ‘needed her eyes’ for ‘something so, so very special’ that he was going to create with her ‘help’. He then proceeded to scoop out a tearful eyeball, leaving his prey unattended for too long a moment to examine his beloved prize.

Nearly breaking her wrists to escape from her restraints, Josie took advantage of the situation and made a run for it, face gushing blood and all. Lucky for her, he made many rookie mistakes like leaving the door unlocked, which ultimately led to her evading her demise.

Life wasn’t as free as she’d thought it would be after her escape, given that her captor had ‘made’ her and threatened to pull the red rug from under her feet all the same if she dared so much as go public with their little rendezvous. At the time, petrified and alone, she submitted to his request and swore silence.

She moved to the other end of the city, hoping he’d leave her alone and move on to the next obsession in his life. Attempting to feel comfortable in her tainted skin, Josie grew her hair out and dyed it black to go for a different look, one that would blend her into the crowd even if only a little. She’d fully kicked all her addictions, and focused more on her music. Every night she’d have flashes of nightmares, see his face in the back of her mind, and began promising herself she’d gather the strength to seek revenge once she could sleep at night without fear. She gradually stalked the monster who stole her eye, following his every move- which is how she found out about Rapture.

With her precedence as a prolific singer, she made her own way into Rapture using manipulative tactics she’d learned from her mother to continue trailing her captor, stopping at nothing to ensure that his head wound up served on a silver-platter by any means necessary. That being said, she is extremely cautious and privy to taking her sweet time so that he doesn’t catch wind before she could strike on the perfect opportunity. Before she strikes however, she manages an entertainment club called the ‘Dark Paradise’ and can scarcely be seen performing there, though usually has guests performing more often than not so she doesn’t draw too much attention to herself.

Personality: As a young girl, Josie was full of life and always had a sparkle in her eye. She was excitable, naive, sometimes a little pretentious, though above all she was full of hope and could hardly keep a smile off her face even in tough situations. A petite little thing, she has a cute round face with luscious lips, an upturned-button-nose, captivating eyes, and the voice of an angel. She carries herself modestly when out in public, though uses her voluptuous body to her advantage when given opportunity. After her life crashed down around her and her eye was forcefully removed from her skull, she was riddled with paranoia and panic, hardly sleeping for months. When she finally snapped herself out of it, she adopted a more cool, calm demeanor, almost coy and passive in nature. She no longer wanted to fear men, and the only way to do that was to show them she wasn’t some doll they could just handle and toss around at will- no, she was a living, breathing human being, and they’d know that without mistake now.

Trivia:

-She’s inspired by Lana Del Rey, which is also her headcanon voice

-Favourite comfort food that always calms her nerves is olives

~Combat/Utility~

Weapons: Not fond of weapons, she doesn’t usually have one on her, though carries a pistol when she’s on the prowl for her would-be murderer.

Gear: no gear, not really!

Plasmids/Tonics: Not wanting to dive back into the world of injecting herself with foreign liquids, she stays away from plasmids and tonics mostly.

Strengths: Cautious, perceptive and self aware

Weaknesses: Emotionally charged, is prone to panic attacks sometimes, poor eyesight