OOC: What makes Dexter tick
This is going to be long and rambly and jump around and stuff because I'm not even sure where I should start or how I should attempt to structure this, but this is my attempt at how Dexter works. For the record, I have absolutely no knowledge of psychology stuff so this is simply what I can tell from watching the show, focusing on him after season 2 since that's where I've taken him from. There will probably be some spoilers for both seasons but since this is about his character development and relationships with people, they probably won't be central to the plot exactly.
As much as Dexter likes to make references to being empty and emotionless, he's not. Inhuman is actually a closer self-description, I think. He doesn't identify much with humanity, or feel empathy towards people. He doesn't think to do things for other people, and he can't understand their emotions. He doesn't care about the great majority of people in the world. One of my favourite parts of season 1 is when Dexter tries to help the teenaged killer, but when he discovers that he's committed suicide Dexter's reaction is simply "he killed someone who deserved to die- himself". If he can't follow Dexter's code, then he deserves to die, nevermind the fact that Dexter tried to give him advice and appeared to be sympathetic to his problems. It's a nice reminder of the fact that he simply doesn't care. The rules he follows are to avoid getting caught, not to save lives or protect the populace (even when he flirts with superhero fantasies, he imagines saving his mother and therefore avoiding his own trauma, not protecting the streets) What Dexter does do is get attached to individual people. He's also particularly protective of children in general, but I think that has a lot to do with wanting to stop them from being traumatised like he was and growing up to be like him.
Really, the only people Dexter cares about are his father, Deb, Rita and her kids. Even then he can be quite selfish about it. He'll always put his own projects (ie killing people) ahead of spending time with them or doing things for them, and them being annoyed at him is just a temporary inconvenience. It's part of why he's so lost when Rita kicks him out in season 2. He can't understand why she's so angry or what just happened and it's so sudden that he's just left completely confused. He's used to being able to explain his way out of things somehow, and he's used to Rita forgiving him. He's protective of Rita, in terms of protecting her from other people, but he doesn't consider her in terms of refraining from doing things that might hurt her. He doesn't understand how to even go about taking her into consideration like that, and he knows he doesn't, which is how he believed her mother so easily that he should stay away from her. He knows that people depend on him, but he doesn't really understand it until the last couple of episodes of season two, when he realises that Deb would probably die if she found out about him. By the end of season two, he realises that he cares about people and they care about him, and he recognises that this is an impediment to his survival (he credits caring too much with making him a worse liar than he could be), but he likes his relationships too much to want to sever them for the sake of survival. Even though he recognises that he needs these people, he's still liable to forget things he's supposed to do for them when it doesn't suit him to remember. He doesn't place much importance on their needs compared to his own.
As far as I can tell, Dexter's need to kill people is all about control. That's why he has his whole stalking ritual, it's why he straps them down naked to a table and has a nice chat to them first. He has to assert his control over them, before he asserts the ultimate control of ending their life. He pretty much says as much in season three when he's talking to another killer. He gets irritated when his victims pray or otherwise try to invoke a higher power, he wants them to recognise that HE'S the highest power at the moment. Their life rests in his hands, not God's or anyone else's. He hates the thought of someone else manipulating him, the only reason he doesn't mind it in season 1 is because he interprets it as a friendly challenge, and he has genuine respect for the killer's skills. He also likes to have control over his own personal space, which is why Deb living with him grates on him so much. Not liking people in his house is partially because he doesn't want even the chance of them finding his tools or his blood slides, but he likes having control of his house in general. He likes the privacy of his lab, too.
So basically, the things that make Dexter a happy Dexter are control, privacy, and being with the people he cares about. These are things that are in short supply in camp! Which is something of a problem. But Deb being in camp gives him a reason to hang on and try and keep himself sane. Also, he knows camp is temporary. If he can just survive for however many months, he can go back to Rita again. I am still going to do that IC post for him, but I'm still procrastinating on that. Anyway, having his own room in the Lawyertarium and his own cabin in the woods is going to have to suffice for privacy. His main issue is the Director being in control of everything, and knowing about him, but that's just going to have to grate on him. Control is a big issue, since so many people in camp are so much more powerful than he can ever be. But he's come up with solutions to taking down people more physically powerful than he is before, and he might even enjoy coming up with creative ways to take down and make helpless people with special powers. In some ways he has greater freedom in camp since he isn't tied down by work and everything. He might even enjoy not being responsible towards Rita for a little while, before the reality of not being able to be with her catches up. That's really the main thing that's going to make him a miserable Dexter for a while. He has a routine at home, there are pizza nights and things. And in camp he has no routine and no familiarity except his sister. But on the plus side, he can go take out his frustration on the wildlife with relative privacy, and he will find himself a routine and when he gets used to it he'll be happier.
I'm probably missing some stuff I meant to talk about, and I've probably been unclear on some stuff so ask away if there's anything you want clarified or you think I've screwed up or you want me to ramble about or whatever! I'm better at responding to questions than I am at putting forth my ideas in the first place.
As much as Dexter likes to make references to being empty and emotionless, he's not. Inhuman is actually a closer self-description, I think. He doesn't identify much with humanity, or feel empathy towards people. He doesn't think to do things for other people, and he can't understand their emotions. He doesn't care about the great majority of people in the world. One of my favourite parts of season 1 is when Dexter tries to help the teenaged killer, but when he discovers that he's committed suicide Dexter's reaction is simply "he killed someone who deserved to die- himself". If he can't follow Dexter's code, then he deserves to die, nevermind the fact that Dexter tried to give him advice and appeared to be sympathetic to his problems. It's a nice reminder of the fact that he simply doesn't care. The rules he follows are to avoid getting caught, not to save lives or protect the populace (even when he flirts with superhero fantasies, he imagines saving his mother and therefore avoiding his own trauma, not protecting the streets) What Dexter does do is get attached to individual people. He's also particularly protective of children in general, but I think that has a lot to do with wanting to stop them from being traumatised like he was and growing up to be like him.
Really, the only people Dexter cares about are his father, Deb, Rita and her kids. Even then he can be quite selfish about it. He'll always put his own projects (ie killing people) ahead of spending time with them or doing things for them, and them being annoyed at him is just a temporary inconvenience. It's part of why he's so lost when Rita kicks him out in season 2. He can't understand why she's so angry or what just happened and it's so sudden that he's just left completely confused. He's used to being able to explain his way out of things somehow, and he's used to Rita forgiving him. He's protective of Rita, in terms of protecting her from other people, but he doesn't consider her in terms of refraining from doing things that might hurt her. He doesn't understand how to even go about taking her into consideration like that, and he knows he doesn't, which is how he believed her mother so easily that he should stay away from her. He knows that people depend on him, but he doesn't really understand it until the last couple of episodes of season two, when he realises that Deb would probably die if she found out about him. By the end of season two, he realises that he cares about people and they care about him, and he recognises that this is an impediment to his survival (he credits caring too much with making him a worse liar than he could be), but he likes his relationships too much to want to sever them for the sake of survival. Even though he recognises that he needs these people, he's still liable to forget things he's supposed to do for them when it doesn't suit him to remember. He doesn't place much importance on their needs compared to his own.
As far as I can tell, Dexter's need to kill people is all about control. That's why he has his whole stalking ritual, it's why he straps them down naked to a table and has a nice chat to them first. He has to assert his control over them, before he asserts the ultimate control of ending their life. He pretty much says as much in season three when he's talking to another killer. He gets irritated when his victims pray or otherwise try to invoke a higher power, he wants them to recognise that HE'S the highest power at the moment. Their life rests in his hands, not God's or anyone else's. He hates the thought of someone else manipulating him, the only reason he doesn't mind it in season 1 is because he interprets it as a friendly challenge, and he has genuine respect for the killer's skills. He also likes to have control over his own personal space, which is why Deb living with him grates on him so much. Not liking people in his house is partially because he doesn't want even the chance of them finding his tools or his blood slides, but he likes having control of his house in general. He likes the privacy of his lab, too.
So basically, the things that make Dexter a happy Dexter are control, privacy, and being with the people he cares about. These are things that are in short supply in camp! Which is something of a problem. But Deb being in camp gives him a reason to hang on and try and keep himself sane. Also, he knows camp is temporary. If he can just survive for however many months, he can go back to Rita again. I am still going to do that IC post for him, but I'm still procrastinating on that. Anyway, having his own room in the Lawyertarium and his own cabin in the woods is going to have to suffice for privacy. His main issue is the Director being in control of everything, and knowing about him, but that's just going to have to grate on him. Control is a big issue, since so many people in camp are so much more powerful than he can ever be. But he's come up with solutions to taking down people more physically powerful than he is before, and he might even enjoy coming up with creative ways to take down and make helpless people with special powers. In some ways he has greater freedom in camp since he isn't tied down by work and everything. He might even enjoy not being responsible towards Rita for a little while, before the reality of not being able to be with her catches up. That's really the main thing that's going to make him a miserable Dexter for a while. He has a routine at home, there are pizza nights and things. And in camp he has no routine and no familiarity except his sister. But on the plus side, he can go take out his frustration on the wildlife with relative privacy, and he will find himself a routine and when he gets used to it he'll be happier.
I'm probably missing some stuff I meant to talk about, and I've probably been unclear on some stuff so ask away if there's anything you want clarified or you think I've screwed up or you want me to ramble about or whatever! I'm better at responding to questions than I am at putting forth my ideas in the first place.