Ralph

This profile has themes of drug abuse, child abuse, animal death, and vague implications of sexual assault. You have been warned.

Name: Ralph Lowell
Age: 21
Gender: Cis Male,  He/Him
Sexuality: Bi
Species: Human
Birthday: June 4th
Occupation: Lumber yard worker and camp counselor when not an active student

Relationships

Elliot - Roommate, friend... maybe more?

Info

A polite college student who doesn't seem to have a sober moment off weed. Ralph is the epitome of "peace, love, and plants" and has a true passion for nature. Despite him being high all the time, he seems to be in tune with everything around him. Originally going for Earth Sciences, he moved to a general Earth Studies major as he decided he could not mentally become the full-time educator he wishes to be, but when possible works as a camp counselor to fulfill that passion to teach youth about the joys of nature. At camp he's always the one cutting firewood and cleaning up any litter in the area.

Ralph focuses on his mental health due to a rough past that has left him a bit unstable. Ralph does not share his rough past to anyone unless they somehow bring it up first. The combination of weed, mindfulness exercises, and meditation help keep him level. Connecting with nature helps keep him grounded. If he is not high, he easily spirals with his mental health. If Ralph ever made someone upset or sad, he would beat himself up about it and maybe even cry himself. He tries his best to make friends with everyone.

Ralph also has an obsession with werewolves and wants to be one. This obsession mostly came after the introduction to weed from Elliot. On full moons he does little rituals in hopes he will become one.

Background

As a kid Ralph knew what made his dad happiest, and that was control, and the hunt. Ralph bent to both of these whims.

During hunting season, his father would take him into the forest. With tears, Ralph would pull the trigger. With his father’s direction, he would kill. Carving an animal was meant to be something to be grateful for. This act was something humanity had done for their entire existence, and yet Ralph could never feel the same. However, the smell of iron and the touch of warm flesh would never be as bad as saying no to his father.

During the off-season, his father found his hunt elsewhere. Every word that left his lips echoed through the small trailer home. Being his father’s trusted helper, the only prey available was Ralph’s mother, and he was expected to take part, even if just to watch. Emotional, then verbal, extended to physical.

Then, the drugs. The go-to was heroin. From god-knows-where, his father began bringing it home. First for himself, then eventually his mother and Ralph. He couldn’t say no. He wouldn’t admit it to himself at first, but it did take the edge off. Enjoying something so destructive, especially from the hands of his father, made him feel guilty and corrupt. Every dose felt like he was injecting his fathers sins. He felt unclean, but it was the only way to feel some sort of pleasure.

Outside the home, he would act his part: an average middle schooler with a loving family. Anybody learning otherwise, he knew he would somehow be punished beyond ever before. He covered his arms at all costs, as the heroin left obvious evidence. Even when teachers became suspicious, he would deny anything was but peachy.

June 4th, the night of Ralph's 13th birthday, they celebrated with a small cake from the grocer and watched a movie. For a now-13 year old, Ralph was much more developed than other boys his age, and was growing fast. His one gift was a new pair of jeans, as he had grown out of his others. Birthdays were the only time there was any sense of normalcy, only now the nights were occupied with drugs.

His father prompted everyone to take more than usual for the sake of the celebration. Ralph protested about giving more to his mother but gave in quickly, knowing the consequences of speaking up. As they watched the film, Ralph caught in the corner of his eye two things. One, his mother was pale and barely responsive. Two, something else. Something gruesome and violating. The figure that had moved on top of his mother.
There was no restraint left in Ralph. Maybe it was the heroin, adrenaline, or something else, but with little hesitation, he swung. A clean hit across his father’s jaw sent him off the couch and into the coffee table. Grabbing Ralph by the leg, he pulled him down to the floor and pinned him down. There was nothing but rage across his father’s face as he began to throw his own punches into Ralph. The  pain still tingling across Ralph’s knuckle became like an anchor in this moment, mind both a mix of clarity and haze. He reached up and grabbed his father’s face, pressing his thumbs into his eyes. His father let out a howl in pain as Ralph then managed to slip away from his father.

He ran across the home, grabbing a hidden vial of naloxone he had stolen. Turning to leave his room, he was abruptly slammed into the wall. Two hands ring his neck with such force he loses grip of the vial. Unable to breathe, but with usable legs, he kicked, hard. His father let up for a moment, once again with an opening. Ralph grabbed for his desk drawer, swiftly taking hold of his hunting knife and jabbing it into his father’s neck. His father promptly fell to the floor, gripping his own neck trying to stop the blood. Ralph pinned him down further, pulling away his fathers hands and wedging the knife further into the same wound. Right now, Ralph wanted nothing more than this man to die, and very quickly got what he wanted. He felt the warmth of blood from fresh kill once again, but this time, it was comforting.

Ralph, after a short moment, got up and grabbed the vial he had dropped, walking back out to his mother.  It was obvious she was overdosing. He quickly sat next to her, brought her to her side and administered the naloxone, hands trembling and coated in blood. Then, with a phone call and ten minutes gone by, the flashing of blue and red showed outside of the window. Finally, there was relief.

At just age 13, Ralph was tried as a minor in juvenile court for the murder of his father. However, due to his age and the evidence, the main charges were quickly settled as self-defense killing, dropping charges related to the death. Some minor charges like theft remained. Ralph spent time held in juvenile facilities both before and after trial. While he had a short sentence, he maintained within juvenile programming for some years for mental health services and substance abuse rehabilitation. His mother tried to see him as much as possible during this time while going through her own rehab.

When he was dismissed from programming at age 17, he and his mother moved to Salem, Massachusetts to start over. They changed their last names to her maiden name, Lowell. Ralph finished school through homeschooling, then went to college for Earth Studies.

Trivia

- Every two hours he walks off and does his meditation, which consists of a guided meditation on a walkman where he just lies completely still in a patch of nearby grass and listens to it. He will most of the time inform people he is going but if nobody is around he will just go and do it. This often leads to people not being sure where the hell he went.
- He carries around an axe almost all the time when at camp. This probably makes him suspicious in a slasher situation but he just likes to cut lumber.
- If he finds a cool stick he will keep it. He likes to collect them.
- He will wear all the clothing he has until it basically can't be worn anymore. A lot of his clothing is stitched together and has stains and holes.
- He always wears long sleeves and doesn't roll them up ever.
- Officially, his list of crimes is this (while most of these were done involuntarily and weren't charged for, they were still done at some point or another):
Breaking and entering
Trespassing
Theft
Hunting without proper license
Failure to properly tag or attach tag
Failure to stop at check stations
Driving without proper license
Minor in possession of narcotics
Administering drugs in aid of a felony
Voluntary manslaughter
Self-defense killing