#but like. hes a cult leader. that twisted into him being manipulative and cruel to his followers once they were too deep in to get out

[vaugarde]

tbh in my kirbyverse i might just nix hyness having genuinely been a great parental figure or family member to the mage sisters entirely and lean more into “the sisters thought he was their friend but really he just made them dependent and devoted to him” like the way actual cults lure their members in. like a twisted form of love that goes against the jamba hearts entirely. 

and its not just for that parallel between hyness’s controlled environment and kirby’s community of friends and former enemies he’s helped along the way, but also because it’d differentiate them from taranza/sectonia and haltmann/susie a bit more bc it wouldnt quite be another “i’m mourning my loved one who got corrupted and want them back” story, but “the person we loved never truly existed and we’ve been fighting for a man who never loved us and only viewed us as a means to an end”

[hydrxnessa]

i did character moodboards but instead its the characters i drew inspiration from over the years

(very long) rambles to the void below // // its very long. heed this warning.

ok first off; Hydra! she first started off as a roleplay character back in the 2016 minecraft hypixel housing roleplay days. your generic ender dragon girl hybrid kinda thing. whole reason why i call myself hydra, she's basically my persona atp

years would go by and she'd later have her own separate story instead of a bunch of one-offs with just 'feral edgy dragon hybrid girl' as a template

she's an unhinged, loose cannon who's generally outcasted by society. all four characters: jinx, nimona, surge and catra are seen by this.

with jinx, mainly her growing up being rough which shapes her to become the feral loose cannon she is. also a twisted father figure. sounds familiar.

with nimona, its mostly just the unhinged-ness and outcast traits. also her personality, with being reckless and rushing in without a plan but also emotionally unstable, easily irritated and fragile.

with surge, its her whole gist of being an experimented cyborg-esque character, with the purpose of surpassing a highly-renowned figure (sonic) -- at the cost of forgetting who she used to be before. yeah i stole that whole thing and threw it onto hydra/hj . once again emotionally unstable due to not knowing who she used to be, and her purpose was created by someone else, not for herself. once that someone else is out of the picture, she'd go on to struggle purpose for herself, whilst being haunted by her past. i think surge is the Major inspiration for hydra here tbh

aaand finally, catra. i /could/ compare adora and catra's relationship to hydra and lyura's, but its very minor. they both grew up together, fought together, played together; but as they grew up, they'd grow distant away from each other. up until the point where they have completely differing ideals and views. and betrayal, there's hints of betrayal in there. and once again, emotionally unstable. i think there's a pattern here

////

okaayy, next up is Intoxicate! he actually started off as an oc completely based around angor rot (top middle). like, entirely angor rot, just furrified. you can probably see his old art on his toyhouse if you scroll down on his gallery. i hate looking at it but its a nice memory. he was always meant to be some sort of antagonist in the Wings' Ascent story, but i didn't really know where to take it

anyways he's a cult leader now, deemed as one of the most powerful Lights in the galaxy. very charismatic, yet ruthless. a deeper motivation to serve his god to save one life; a life so dear to him. tbh its giving gabriel agreste HELP

not much with neuvilette since i haven't played genshin's fontaine region (nor do i plan to, i just really like neuvi). he's the dragon sovereign iirc? more powerful than the archons themselves. authoritative and strong, those were the traits i gave intox. also similar hair.

i already spoke about angor rot - whole reason why intox exists in the first place. also the blue spots over his body, idk if there's story to that in the franchise but i stole that and made it like some sort of terminal disease on intox, just to make things dire.

lunatic cultist - i mean not much to say. intox serves the Lunatic Star. cultist serves the Moon Lord. i think its self-explanatory

suguru geto !! i love u geto cult leader, aand adopted two daughters that he basically saved from a village about to execute them. intox basically adopted tohka when she had nothing else. also charismatic yet manipulative demeanour. also hair. to that one person who compared human intox to geto, and i have never seen jjk ever, you are the reason i watched jjk in the first place. thanks

gary miller - cult leader. ruthless, cruel, sacrificial. would do anything for the entities he worships. also seems charming, yet manipulative. i do find the garyjohn ship silly and cute yet twisted

the lamb from cult of the lamb. oh boy, so unexpected. in intox's backstory, he dies through beheading but is brought to the Lunatic Star from death instead of being sent off to the heavens. Lunar promises him she will save Amaera, if he vows to serve her and gain her freedom from her shackles. very similar to the Lamb who was also beheaded and sent to the One Who Waits/Narinder, who promises vengeance in exchange of starting a cult to gain him power

////

ok finally, Trojan! honestly if you're still reading thanks for listening to my dumb rambles about my ocs ??? really appreciate it lol even if im just talking to the void

oh he's a weird one. created him in 2021 i believe? which was when the project renekton skin was released (2nd row on the right). i also wanted a scientist character. so basically, i combined the two. red/orange lizard and scientist. anyways i never drew him again

ok he's back now. repurposed him and fit him into hydra's story so that he's the scientist who created her (i forgot what her story was beforehand, other than experimentation, though i think it was just an scp foundation situation). originally meant to be a very cruel and very evil scientist, but i started liking the idea that he'd be more paternal and fatherly to her, and then slowly losing that sense as he gained more power and more involved with his research.

basically, mad scientist with a child experiment.

abrahm valentin - i actually dont understand the iris lore tbh. i do know that he killed his brother and repurposed his remains/nervous system into some sort of circus attraction, whilst his brother remained conscious. trojan killed his father and repurposed him into a powerful machine (H4YW1RE). also abrahm's pretty insane. like deadass insane.

dr clef - i think this was one of the original inspirations back when i first created him. doctor/researcher for the scp foundation, but he's anomalous himself. also batshit insane

dr starline - he's connected to surge's story, whole reason why she exists. similar to how hydra/lyura only exist because of him. also voice claims are generally a posh british accent. that's as far as that goes.

draedon. ough i love draedon. a powerful scientist and researcher who transferred his whole conscious into this mechanical body. built crazy powerful technology; armour for a literal godslayer, a worm god, dangerous robots, etcetc. also i liked the idea that he had multiple labs across the continent, but as he grew more powerful and gained more knowledge, those labs became abandoned.

project renekton - similar to angor rot to tox, he's the major inspiration and starting point of trojan. though the inspiration mainly came from his aesthetics, and a tiny hint of unhinged personality but thats it really

lysandre, ooh this one's interesting. his ideal was that the world was no longer beautiful, instead growing uglier, so he wanted to create a perfect world by ridding all of imperfection. trojan's ideals are heavily based around perfection and transcending the Stars and their flaws. also lysandre was seen as a very influential figure, who's technology was basically everywhere in kalos. trojan was the same, just on a wider galactical scale. a very renowned scientist, where most tech of akr'byx could be traced back to him.

viktor - pretty much the same as lysandre, only that he replaced his body and augmented it with machinery as he saw it far superior than flesh.

i dont actually remember what viggo grimborn's inspo was other than his voice claim. maybe also for his charming yet manipulative demeanour

boothill was actually meant to be up there but i didnt have space !! his backstory is Very similar to trojan where they both lose a loved one and died just after, yet brought back via augmentation of their body.

ANYWAYS. thats the end. im so tired. thanks if you read all of this. im not reading back there's probably mistakes and i will probably die of cringe. woohoo i love having favourite characters then stuffing them into ocs

[oraclekleo]

Stray Kids as Villains (non tarot)

Disclaimer:

This isn't tarot related

These are my personal impressions

I'm in no way saying any of the members would ever be as evil as described here

This is a hypothetical scenario 'what if'

Some things might trigger you, don't read if you are overly sensitive person

Stray Kids as Villains

(Based on my observation, non-tarot)

Bang Chan

Bang Chan really oozes some daddy vibes so I think, in a twisted reality, he could become the super perfectionist father, forcing his child to achieve the goals Chan had himself but for some reason wasn’t able to reach. You know the type of father who will put his daughter through a drill on the ice ring to push her towards an olympic gold medal for ice skating. The type of villain who sort of means well and wants his children to be more successful in life than he was but in fact ruining their lives, pushing them into extremes. He might be super bitter about his own failed ambitions, blaming others and circumstances for his life failures. So yeah, not exactly a super villain but more like an everyday person gone too far over the border.

Lee Know

Lee Know would make a good Joker but that’s not the only villain he could portray. He’s sort of a wild card. He might become any type of villain but I can mostly see him as a shady but sort of fun and sarcastic villain, someone who knows how to bend or break the rules. A leader of high class thieves, the brain of a super complex heist, that’s Lee Know. His charisma can seduce a cashier in a bank so he can pull some crucial security information from her, he can dress up as a janitor to map the bank and the positioning of CCTV, he can easily play a wealthy foreign potential investor talking to the head manager of the bank and letting them show him their vault security level. Lee Know and his crew would rob the bank successfully but Lee Know being too greedy would also have a watertight perfect plan on disposing of his minions so he doesn’t have to pay them and there’s no risk of anyone breaking at police interrogation.

Changbin

Changbin is a tough one. He’s not very villainous in my eyes but let’s try. He gives both boyfriend and daddy vibes so I guess he could go a similar way as Chan. Only he would be the overprotective and possessive boyfriend, who checks his lover’s phone, texts them every hour asking where they are and who is with them. His love could go toxic and unhealthy. The Bluebeard type of a villain. Changbin would slowly separate his lover from their friends and family completely so nobody would actually notice when they disappear. Changbin would murder them and somewhat preserve them so they remain his dolls in some basement gallery of his own and he would ‘collect’ lovers like that. Oh! So I could actually come up with a pretty scary villain even for a guy who doesn’t look villainous. Ain’t I a genius? Lol!

Hyunjin

When it comes to Hyunjin there are more options but I’m gonna go with the most scary one (as I usually do). I think Hyunjin might make a good psycho cult leader. The type of a man, who gathers devoted worshippers around him, especially those who will gladly serve him in more intimate ways. He would teach about some obscure and hella crazy beliefs. He’s a charismatic manipulator and a persuasive rhetorician. He would make his worshippers do anything for him. Sorry for going this dark here and if it triggers you, you shouldn’t read a post about villains.

Han

Oof! Han is too sweet for a villain… I don’t know. Maybe he could be like a sidekick to a villain? Something like an evil version of Batman’s Robin? A young ward of a cruel and greedy villain, a boy only knowing immoral behaviours and so acting like a bully at prestigious school because he knows nothing better? I guess I can’t really figure anything harder for him.

Felix

Felix is also kinda sweet but I can come up with a villainous version of him. He would make a great Venom. He would make such a perfect anti-hero, a guy who would actually be envious of his buddy’s successes that he would be willing to team up with an evil space entity in order to acquire some super powers to match those he’s envious about. He would gladly sacrifice his own personality and autonomy to the parasite.

Seungmin

I don’t know… Seriously. I have no idea. I’m open to your suggestion here because I have spent an hour on Seungmin and I just don’t know.

I.N

Okay! I know! An evil ancient demon waking up after a thousand years of forced imprisonment and ready to sweep the human kind off the earth’s surface. Something like Imhotep in the Mummy movie with Brandon Fraser, if anyone here ever saw it. I.N would make such a great ancient spirit going for revenge spree and hitting the world with one disaster after another. He would have some magic powers or super powers, maybe even needing to perform some bloody ritual sacrifice at the top of some temple in the middle of the jungle. Releasing the powers of some ancient evil to the world. Invincible demon I.N

You can find more Darkness here:

Idols After Dark Master Post

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[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Sommelier (Hannigram x Female!Reader) pt. 6

So we’re slowly but surely getting into the Hannigram shit I promised.

Someone with murderous intent finds y/n just as she thinks her life is beginning to improve. Little does she know, it will. 

@deadman-inc-bikeshop and @dovadokren here you go homies

Trigger warnings: Suicide bombing, graphic descriptions of violence, gun violence, death, cults, cult manipulation

You waited until he had left the restaurant to read that all-important scrap of paper. For some reason, you felt the need to hide in the bathroom to read it. It was probably just a name and phone number, but your brain was anticipating some kind of love letter. 

You carefully unfolded the receipt like it was your most treasured possession. Inside, it simply read ‘Hannibal Lecter’ followed by a phone number. 

You hugged the paper against your chest and a huge smile overtook your face. You couldn’t attach any rhyme or reason to why you suddenly felt so alive, other than you were completely and utterly infatuated. You felt like you could break into song. 

“Hey, [F/N]!” Charissa said, banging on the stall door. “Not to interrupt whatever this is, but could you take out the trash please?” 

“Oh.” You answered, your voice cracking. “Yeah. I’ll be right there.” 

Charissa trailed close behind you as you collected the bags from each can around the restaurant. She was uncharacteristically quiet, probably waiting for you to start spilling every detail of your night. The joke was on her, because you could let the silence go on forever. She wasn’t getting a word out of you. 

“So you’re not going to tell me?” She sounded deeply offended. 

“What’s to tell?” You said, hoisting a very full garbage bag over your shoulder. “Nothing happened.” 

“He sunk his teeth into you, didn’t he?” Charissa asked. At this point, you weren’t sure if she meant it metaphorically or literally. “That’s why you’re acting all, y’know, not downright miserable?” 

“Is that how I act usually?” You began to make your way to the back.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but,” She prefaced. “You basically have two moods. Depressed and customer-service happy, which is just depressed with a facelift. And whatever is happening here doesn’t fit into either of those categories. So something happened.” 

“Detective Charissa Rodriquez does it again.” You rolled your eyes and put one hand on the back door. “Some things just have to stay between a bartender and her... possible love interest.”

You punctuated the last sentence with a wink, sending your friend into a righteous fury. 

“Holy shit, [F/N]!” She exclaimed, smacking her hands together. “Come on, [F/N], I’m your best friend. You’ve got to let me in.” 

“I’m still trying to process what happened myself.” You said in earnest. “Believe me, if I’m telling anyone, it’s you.” 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Charissa wagged her finger. 

You tightened your grip on the garbage bag and lugged it outside. The night had fallen, and the orchestra of cicadas and crickets was in full swing. The warm pre-summer air welcomed you. As much as you resented her for bringing it up, Charissa was right. You hadn’t been truly happy in a very long time. And, as terrifying as the thought may have seemed, in a way, you owed it to Chase Mulvaney. 

You hauled the garbage bag into the dumpster and slammed it shut. The crash echoed and you turned back towards the door. 

Someone grabbed your arm. Your immediate thought was that it was just Charissa playing a cruel joke, but then they twisted it back and shoved you against the wall. You felt the cold blade of a knife against your neck and you froze up. 

“You didn’t repent.” A manic voice hissed into your ear. You could feel your heartbeat against the cold brick wall. The hands that bound you were soft and the voice was much more female. This was noticeably not Chase. 

You sputtered as you tried to articulate any of your thousands of questions. “Who the fuck are you?!” 

“Silence, she-devil!” The girl slammed you against the wall. “Keep your forked tongue between your teeth or I’ll cut it out!”

Her voice and hands shook and she enunciated as if she were reading off a script with a gun to her head. The adrenaline turned to genuine fear when you felt something hard strapped to her midriff. You knew in that moment that she wasn’t going to use the knife. 

"I thought Chase wanted to kill me himself." You muttered.

“Did you really think vanguard would be stupid enough to come back here?!” She forced a laugh but her voice was broken with fear. 

“Yes.” You said back, resigning to at least die with honor. “And, why is Chase the one in charge?!” 

She tightened her grip on your arm and smashed your head against the wall. “Don’t you dare talk about vanguard that way!”

He ripped off his cult leader title from fucking NXIVM? You thought, fully aware that it could easily be your last thought ever. 

“No, but seriously, think about it!” You implored her, hoping that if you got her talking, she wouldn’t hit the detonator. If there was one thing you knew about evangelicals, it was that they loved to hear themselves talk. “Chas- er, vanguard attacked me in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses. You’re smarter than he is! You came after me when I was alone in the dark!” 

“Everything he does, he does for a reason.” She shouted. "It's not the unwoman's place to question vanguard!"

“Oh god, now he’s ripping off Handmaid’s Tale?” You said out loud this time.

“Vanguard told me that you would try to fill my head with lies!” She growled. “So long as you are alive, you stand in the way of god’s work! You spread only falsehoods about our savior!” 

“Is this about the TattleCrime article?” You ask. “Because I didn’t say anything about god, I only talked about--” 

Then it hit you, again. “Oh, so this is a cult cult.”

"It's not a cult!" The girl screamed. This was the first time you'd sensed any genuine emotion behind her words. "Vanguard takes good care of us. And he can take care of you, too [F/N] [L/N]."

"By sending someone to kill me?" You spat.

"No!" The girl exclaimed. "No, no, no, no, no! Silly! I'm here to save you. If you repent now, and let Jesus Christ into your heart, your earthly shackles will be broken!"

"And what's in it for you, huh?" You struggled against her grip. "The privilege of blowing yourself up for Chase Mulvaney?"

"I was a sinful being like you, once." She said. "My grand reward is to give my life to save another."

You heard the click of a gun behind you. “Put the knife down and take off the vest!” 

The girl grabbed you by the neck and turned you to face this approaching foe. She held the knife to your throat. “If you shoot, she’s dead.” 

You couldn’t make out the details of his face, because he was backlit by headlights. You could, however, see the face of your captor. She was completely emaciated with bones protruding from her skin. Her head was sloppily shaved and whatever instrument she used to shave it left deep cuts on her scalp. 

She reached a shaky hand into her pocket and pulled out a detonator. Tears streaming down her face, she began to chant. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The man let off a shot, sending a bullet into her leg. She fell backwards, dropping the detonator and the knife and giving you an opportunity to run. The man gestured for you to get behind him and you obliged. He then let off a second shot, this bullet hitting her right through the skull. The girl collapsed backwards, her brain matter painting the side of the building. 

The man dropped his gun, mumbled something about a bomb squad into his phone, then turned to you. Finally, you could get a good look at his face. Immediately, you noticed his rich brown curls and a smattering of scruff around his jaw. His features were soft, comforting even. But a long enough examination of his face told you that he was just as deeply haunted as you were. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, weakly.

“You...” You said over desperate gasps for air. “You saved me.”

Soon enough, the first responders joined you. But for a few minutes, it was just you, the man and some unspoken mutual understanding words couldn't articulate.

[cruelfeline]

That earlier post got me thinking about the difference between Horde Prime’s anger, and Hordak’s. Namely in terms of where it comes from and what its purpose is. Because my word, but there is a discrepancy, and it’s the sort of thing that I feel sheds quite a bit of light on how differently the two of them see the world.

When we meet Horde Prime, he is the picture of calm and collected, the classic affably evil villain who appears entirely in control of everything. And for a good portion of his time in the story, he is. He controls what we understand to be a vast empire. He controls the physical, mental, and emotional lives of countless clones who worship him entirely. He is totally in command of everything he interacts with.

So when we see his first angry outburst, it is less an “outburst” and more a targeted weapon. Horde Prime turns his vicious ire onto a trembling, pleading Hordak specifically to frighten him. To dominate him. To terrorize and punish him for the moral crime of taking a name and exerting his will. There is no loss of control here; once Hordak is dealt with, Prime calmly returns to his default cool, collected state. He is entirely the master of this situation, and when he exhibits anger, it is specifically to harm someone over whom he has power. 

An important aspect of this, one that differs from what we see in Hordak and adds a significant level of cruelty to Prime, is that he is so legitimately mighty that this sort of fear-based punishment has nothing to do with self defense or personal safety. It truly appears geared towards inflicting suffering on others for his own glorification. Essentially: when he turns his anger on Hordak, it is not because Hordak poses any sort of actual threat that needs to be fought off. It is purely to hurt him in a way that strokes Prime’s ego.

This use of anger, of violence, to hurt and punish others seems to be the chief purpose Prime has for the emotion. Granted, as the show continues and he loses his dominant position due to our heroes’ efforts, his expressions of anger fall more in line with frustrated outbursts, but to my mind, this is the exception rather than the norm for him. After all, he has been dominant for so, so long. And because he has been comfortably in charge, he has had little to be frustrated about. Thus, Prime’s anger is largely a weapon of manipulation and enforced fear, rather than a reaction to a lack of control until the very latter portion of the series.

Now: Hordak.

Hordak is very different. Hordak, given the deeply unfortunate circumstances he faces, has had everything to be frustrated about: his illness, his failed projects, his precarious leadership position. And because of these things, particularly said precarious leadership position, he does not enjoy the easy dominance that Prime enjoys. Every moment Hordak spends in command of the Etherian Horde is one during which he has to hide his defect and maintain the facade of all-powerful ruler. It is a stressful thing that threatens to fall apart the moment his ruse falters, not only shaming him but putting him in potentially great physical danger.

which... y’know... happens in season four via Catra; so not a false worry

Because of this, Hordak exhibits anger far more constantly than Prime; he is almost perpetually grumpy, ready to snarl at a moment’s notice since his reasons for anger are ever-present. Furthermore, he uses said anger less as a tool to hurt people for his own personal pleasure and more as a negative coping mechanism combined with a method of personal defense.

The negative coping mechanism is probably what we see most often: whenever things don’t go Hordak’s way, he lashes out. The most common casualty of this is a piece of property (RIP lil’ green wrench) rather than an actual person, strongly marking this form of anger as one used to vent frustration rather than to influence others in any way. Hordak, along with his brothers, functions under a doctrine of minimizing emotional expression. As a result, his ability to cope with negative experiences via a healthy expression of the resulting emotions is heavily stunted, leading to the outbursts we see. It’s not a positive aspect of his character by any means, but it is an understandable one: he never learned how to manage failure and disappointment in a constructive way, so he suppresses the related emotions until they come to a head and manifest in violent anger.

This is akin to what Prime exhibits in the late stages of his life, but because Hordak constantly experiences such vexing frustration, he expresses this sort of anger far more consistently than Prime does, to the point that I would hazard to say that it is his norm.

Now, looking at Hordak expressing anger and using violence targeting other people, we again can see that he differs from Prime. Prime, as stated before, has all of the power and thus no real need for this sort of violence-based maintenance of control and self-defense. When he wields his anger, it is to cause hurt. Hordak? Hordak has that fragile leadership standing alongside a frightening lack of personal agency, and so he does use his anger to attempt to maintain both. He wields it both to protect himself from people and to regain control when he loses it. Various instances come to mind (besides him trying to drive Entrapta out of his sanctum via Yelling (c)).

One involves Adora in the moments leading up to the portal activation at the end of season three. When Adora threatens to thwart Hordak’s plans and utters that awful word, “fail,” he reacts. He reacts to two things: the concept of Adora has a dangerous enemy, and the loss of control over his own life via the threat of failure. When he turns his anger on her (and later displaces it onto Entrapta when said anger causes his armor to glitch) it is to combat these two adversarial things in order to maintain his own safety and stability. Hurting Adora as some sort of twisted moral punishment is not the intent here; protecting himself, from both physical and emotional threats, is.

Another instance involves throwing machinery and yelling at Catra after the portal incident, once she mentions Entrapta. This marks another moment of Hordak combating the sense of losing control. He experiences emotional pain due to Entrapta’s mention, likely suffering feelings of loss and shame and abandonment, and in order to regain control over the situation, to feel less vulnerable, he directs his anger at the source of discomfort: Catra. 

In a similar instance, he throws a chip at Imp when the little spy teases him with Entrapta’s name, again seeking to defend himself against the unpleasant feelings her memory brings.

When Shadow Weaver and the Princesses invade his Sanctum, he loses composure and turns furious, throwing a column at them in an attempt to defend himself and his most private quarters. 

He does the same once he learns of Catra’s lies, erupting into a true rage once she further prods at his insecurities by asserting that Prime will not want him due to his being a defective mistake. 

Over and over, Hordak uses his anger to both protect himself from potentially dangerous people and to attempt to regain control over situations he feels are slipping from his grasp. Often when facing increased personal vulnerability. All of these moments show this very different set of reasons for expressing this potentially violent emotion compared to Prime.

It’s an interesting contrast, isn’t it? And one that serves to highlight the very different lives these two characters lead: one a cruel cult leader who has almost unfathomable power over his worshipers, the other a traumatized man trying to obtain power and security and stability in a life where he has nearly none. And their anger provides an intriguing lens through which to assess this contrast.

[tothemeadow]

Commissioned by @azurenocturne​

Douma x Reader

- After your friend disappears while investigating the Eternal Paradise, you decide to follow after her. Little do you know, but the leader of the cult, Upper Moon Two, is as beautiful as he is conniving... - 

warnings: mentions of death, blood, and gore

words: 2.1k

-

Birds of a feather flock together, but not this time. She’s walking on an unfolded road in a distant dream, long gone, almost forgotten. Sometimes, her laughter rings in your ears. Sometimes, when you close your eyes, you can see that very day, cloaked with white and the chill of winter.

It’s because of her that you’re the person you are today.

Seasons have passed, as have many moons; day by day, you wait for your crow to bring you an ounce of good news, but to no avail. Months have gone by, and yet your friend has still not uttered a single word.

You’re confident in her skills, of course. She’s a tough fighter, practically too stubborn to die, but paranoia follows you around, wraps around you tightly during the night’s long hours. You figure it must be because of the façade she must put up – to be captured means death.

The lead she told you about was strong, and she was more than determined to follow it to its ends and meet the leader for herself. The Eternal Paradise, as she explained, where Upper Moon Two leads blind followers to their deaths. It’s disgusting, isn’t it?

From your understanding, some demon sat on a pile of corpses and bones with an entourage of mindless sheep waiting for slaughter. It is disgusting, down to the tiniest detail. You encouraged your friend to take down such a damned blood-thirsty creature, but you sent her off with plenty of warnings in your stead. If anything looked to shady or dangerous to deal with, you begged her to make her return home. She didn’t deserve to die in a place like that, not to people like those.

You wish you were naïve. You wish you could tell yourself that it would be okay, that your friend will come back to you safe and sound someday, but that’s not the case. Your gut told you otherwise, warned you of the truth. She was in danger and needed help, whether she liked it or not. You had to follow down that same road, seemingly disappear and become one with this so-called “organization.”

She was going to come home.

-

“You’ll like it here, sister,” Hanako says, voice devoid of all emotion. Hanako was appointed as your ”guide,” told to show you around the mansion, provide the ins and outs of how the cult worked. Unlike the others straggling in the halls, her expression is plain and lifeless. With hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes, you wondered what hell she must’ve been through to find herself living in the halls of the Eternal Paradise.

As you pass the others, they turn to you with way too pleasant smiles, their eyes squinting to the point where it looks painful. There’s no way that they’re that happy to be here, right…? Surely, they’d have to notice how some of their fellow followers randomly disappear from time to time. It’s possible that their demon leader manipulates them to forget, or straight out threatens them to keep silent…

“You’ll be staying in here,” Hanako says, coming to an abrupt stop in front of a room. The room itself is on the smaller side, nearly devoid of any furniture besides a rolled-up futon sitting to the side. “This is where I reside,” Hanako continues. “There used to be another, but then they decided to leave.” Stepping inside, Hanako unceremoniously drops the spare futon and pillow she was holding onto the floor.        

The hairs on the back of your neck stand straight at her ominous words. “Uh, what do you mean, they left? I thought anybody who became part of the… Eternal Paradise would never want to leave?” Saying the words leaves a nasty taste in your mouth; you’re a slayer, for gods’ sakes. You shouldn’t even be here, but you’re determined to find your friend. It’s partially your fault that she came here all by herself; you should’ve tagged along, made sure she wasn’t alone when going up against a cult.

Hanako blinks at you, her eyes a cold, empty shell. “They died.”

What?

“Everyone lives, everyone dies. That’s life, after all,” Hanako says. “They left before they passed. To die in this sacred place… It’s repulsive. Our lord doesn’t deserve such disrespect. Imagine if I woke up to a corpse and had to tell our lord? He’d punish me for not dealing with it.”

Swallowing thickly, you turn away. If Hanako was afraid of telling the demon that somebody died – that in itself raises an alarm, jeez – then what were they even like? Cruel and ruthless, obviously; why so followers, then? Don’t they know who they’re even dealing with?

“Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” a new voice says.

Hanako squeaks, then, whirling around to the door and snapping over in a deep bow. “Fool,” she hisses at you, “what do you think you’re doing? Show some respect!”

Glancing towards the door, your entire mouth goes dry in an instant. A large, muscular man almost completely fills the doorway, his wide shoulders nearly spanning the entire length of the opening. He’s beautiful, simply put; birch hair, multicolored eyes, a face carved by the gods. The man’s entire being oozes with power and intensity, yet his enticing scent is tinged with blood. So, this is the leader, Upper Moon Two, it seems. After another moment’s hesitation, you follow after Hanako and bend at the waist.

“Forgive me, my lord,” Hanako stammers. Rather than her monotonous tone before, she addresses her leader with the outmost respect. “The newcomer obviously needs to learn the proper mannerisms.”

The demon giggles. Shivers run down your spine; he isn’t like any other demon you’ve encountered, not by a longshot. The room becomes even more cramped as he steps in, his large body mere steps away from you. “Stand, my darlings,” he purrs.

Hanako shoots upright, her usual blank expression twisted into a pleased grin. Wringing her hands before her, she rocks back and forth on her heels, seemingly having a bit of trouble holding back her excitement. Like her, you stand straight, but you take the chance to truly analyze the man before you.

True, while he is one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen, you’re all too aware of what he really is, what he really does. Cocking his head, his long hair sweeps over his shoulder, frames his attractive face. He flashes you a knowing smile. Heart dropping to your stomach, you wonder if he knows who you are, just like you know who he is.    

“I don’t think that will be much of an issue,” he continues. Offering his hand to you, he silently urges you to take it. “Welcome to the Eternal Paradise,” he purrs, “My name is Douma.”

-

You’re a fool. A total, complete fool.

How… how could you be so stupid? After all this time, after all the effort into finding your friend… You should have never come. That bastard stole your heart even though you knew it was wrong, terribly so, and yet you did it anyway. Despite knowing Douma is a demon and that he kills people for the fun of it, you fell for him. Hell, you should slit your own stomach for pulling such a move.

He played you this entire time, pulling at your heartstrings and treating you with utmost kindness. You let love get in the way of your mission, cloud your thoughts; for a short while, you believed that maybe things would turn out okay, that you would somehow have a happy ending to the story you call life.

But no, that isn’t how things work. Karma, that bloodthirsty queen, always gets what she wants.

You’re not sure what’s worse – the slurping of blood or the smell of it. No, scratch that; it’s the look in Douma’s eyes, the surge of power and unadulterated hunger. Violent rivers stream from your eyes, ungracefully drip from your chin and onto the wooden planks below. That’s your friend he’s eating, her blood that he drinks.    

“I’ve always preferred female flesh, female blood…” Douma begins, tongue flicking out over his lips. His fangs gleam ruby as he flashes you a smile. “They’re so sweet, so wonderfully soft… How do you do it, love? How is your kind so delicious?”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” you growl. “You don’t have the bloody right to.”

Placing a bloody hand to his chest, Douma has the audacity to look offended. “That’s not what you said last night.” The corners of his mouth curl salaciously, a dark giggle spilling from his lips. “If I recall correctly, you were begging for more, my little slayer.”

That makes it even worse. Cursing yourself internally, your grip on your blade tightens. There’s no point in trying to hide it anymore; Douma knew exactly who you were from the get-go. Both yours and your friend’s missions were complete and utter failures. You’ve entered a damned slaughterhouse, for gods’ sakes. You should’ve seen this coming, but your feelings got in the way.

“You never loved me, you twat,” you spit.

Douma cocks his head, drops your friend’s severed hand. “No, no, no,” he begins, drawing himself to his monstrous height, “that’s where you’re wrong. The truth is, well, I’ve never loved anyone!” He breaks into a malicious cackle, then, his whole face twisting with mirth. “And to think you fell in love with me! I’ll admit, I liked you better than the others, but loved? Don’t flatter yourself, dear. Nobody could ever love you, especially not me.”

“I’ll pin your fucking head to a spike and watch you burn.”

Through your torrent of tears, you spring at him, an animalistic growl ripping itself from your throat. Despite the grotesque, bloodcurdling rage surging through your veins, you have to remind yourself to breathe. People used to tell you all the time that you’re worthless, weak, and that you should give up on becoming a proper slayer. At the time, you’ve become so angry that they were right; being a Breath of Water user, you could never get the technique correct. You envied others (mostly Tomioka Giyuu, the Water Pillar) for their abilities.

If it weren’t for your friend taking you to that viewing on that magical winter’s day, you would have never grown. No, you weren’t a Breath of Water user anymore; you honed your skills into something new, something wonderful. Breath of Ice is something to behold in itself, albeit relatively new. You’re proud of your graceful, fluid movements, but that nagging voice in the back of your head tells you that it’s pointless, just like what everyone else said before.

You didn’t want to do this, swirling around in a furious blizzard of snow and ice, floating and skirting around your friend’s remains. Douma follows through with each attack, nimbly dodging your blade, your range of attacks. In time, your body is covering with miniscule cuts, barely thicker than a hair, but the sheer amount of blood pouring from them is obscure. How much you’ve lost, you don’t know, but seeing crimson decorate the floor and Douma’s metallic fans tells more than you want to know.

It’s no good; he’s too strong, too fast, and he seems to know every single move you plan to make. Your face is wet with blood and tears, your vision blurring, snot running from your nose. A punched-out groan bursts from your chest as you’re knocked to the side, back colliding with the wall. You collapse to the ground with an unceremonious thump.

Gasping for breath, you scramble for your blade, fingernails digging into the wood in your desperation. A foot comes down on your hand, then, making you cry out in pain.

“I really thought you’d put up more of a fight,” Douma sneers. Dropping to his knee, he leans down over you, his hair curtaining his face. “Trying to take on an Upper Moon with an underdeveloped breathing technique… You’re so stupid!” With another cackle, he presses the tip of a fan to your throat. “You came all this way to save your little friend, and now look where you are! She’s dead! Funny how that works…”

“I’ll kill you, you lying bastard,” you wheeze.

“Love, you aren’t really in the position to say such things,” Douma says, his voice suddenly turning softer. It’s the same tone he used during the lovelier moments, the moments where he held you close and stroked your naked body. “I’ll let you stay with me forever, though. You’d make such a great decoration!”

“Douma, no-“

Splat.

[akitohru]

The Sohma clan and its cult-like characteristics or: why and how they get away with everything they do. Why everyone stays. Why the current system held in place operates so well. I wrote this back when episode 10 came out, but I didn’t post it over here. However, with the release of Rin’s episode, I’m seeing this topic being brought up again a lot, so I wanted to post it over here too. This post will include no manga spoilers, so don’t feel the need to watch out for them.

Warning: Abuse will be heavily discussed in this post.

With the reveal that Akito is God, we find out why the zodiac are so loyal to Akito. However, the curse itself is largely a metaphorical device rather than an actual fantasy device. Even without the curse, their loyalty to Akito is still.. very realistic considering the environment they grew up in. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Sohma clan (at least, the “inside” part of the clan.) is a cult. This post will be explaining why that is and how being in a cult affects people. I will be using this handout (uucnrv.org/uucwp/wp-content/uploads/Cults-handouts.pdf) in the post as a reference.The handout defines a cult as:

A religion or sect, generally considered to be extremist or false, under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader for whom members exhibit fixed, even religious, veneration.

The zodiac worship Akito as their God. Even if they have problems with how Akito operates things, they still hold great reverence for him and don’t go against him no matter what kind of heinous things he does Ex: Not doing anything about Yuki being locked and tormented in a dark room by Akito for a majority of his young life, Akito partially blinding Hatori + ruining him and Kana’s relationship, Akito harming Tohru, and Akito pushing Rin off from what looked to be the third floor of a building.

Now, onto what the handout describes as common characteristics of cults:

One charismatic leader is the group’s sole authority on truth; only this leader decides, or has the right to approve, all policies and practices. Members are zealous, protective, and unquestioningly committed to the leader.Members regard the leader’s beliefs and practices as truth and law; the leader affirms and enforces this idea. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or punished.

Since I’ve pretty much already covered how all of these characteristics relate to Akito and the zodiac under the definition, I’ll refrain from repeating myself on certain things. You may have noticed in episode 9 that Yuki says, “He needs to know his place. Him and me both. That’s how it’s supposed to be.“ He and the others have had instilled in them ever since they were old enough to comprehend things that the way things operate in the Sohma Clan are simply just the way things are supposed  to be. That they can not defy that. That is is fate. Like Akito says to Kyo, "It’s what’s been carved into the wheel of fate for those born with a spirit.”

“The group’s leadership dictates how members should think, act, and feel. Members require the leader’s permission to change jobs, date, marry, or have children. The leader tells members where they can live and how to teach and discipline their children.”

Ex: Hatori having to get permission to marry Kana. While this is a characteristic of a cult, this also has to do with the Sohma clan’s family/household system. You can read more about that in this informative and intriguing post made by Furuba Canon here! (It warns in the post but watch out for spoilers.)

“The group uses public humiliation or punishment, debilitating work, sleep deprivation, or other practices to create group-think and to suppress individualism and doubt.”

I’ve already mentioned some examples of the type of punishment Akito exacts against the zodiac for insubordination under the definition, but another example of this would be when Akito visits the school and threatens Yuki with the “special room” he used to isolate him before because he skipped out of the New Year celebration

“The group is elitist, claiming special status for itself, its leaders, and its members.”

The zodiac are most definitely seen as special in the Sohma clan, only the “insiders” knowing of the curse. Akito, of course, is seen as the most special.

“Criticism or jokes about the leader or group are taken very seriously and likely punished.”

We see this when Kyo is fighting back against Akito in the annex, Akito responding with, “Don’t give me orders,” and becoming more aggressive after Kyo tells him not to touch him. We also see this when Tohru protects Momiji from Akito. 

Thought Reform

In the article (people.howstuffworks.com/cult.htm), “How Cults Work”, the author describes how cults manage to have so much control over people:

A destructive cult uses countless techniques to get its members to stay, commit themselves and take part in what may be harmful activities. The sum of these techniques constitutes what some people call “mind control.” It’s also known as “thought reform,” “brainwashing” and “coercive persuasion,” and it involves the systematic breakdown of a person’s sense of self… Thought reform is an umbrella term for any number of manipulative techniques used to get people to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do…most psychologists believe that cult brainwashing techniques, which are similar to techniques used in prisoner interrogation, do change a person’s thought processes

Techniques (I will only be mentioning the ones that apply to the Sohma Clan.):

1. “Isolation- Cults cut off members from the outside world (and even each other) to produce intense introspection, confusion, loss of perspective and a distorted sense of reality. The members of the cult become the person’s only social contact and feedback mechanism…

Cults may not allow unsupervised contact with the “outside world.” In this way, there is no chance for a “reality check” or validation of a new member’s concerns regarding the group.

Cults typically instill the belief that “outsiders” (non-cult members) are dangerous and wrong.”

As we first see in the “Spring Comes” episode, the Sohmas mostly all live in the big Sohma estate with no outsiders being allowed in without special permission. Even if they are allowed to attend school and go out for other reasons, they’re still pretty isolated and surrounded by people who don’t find the way things operate inside the estate odd at all, some even encouraging of it. Someone living in that type of environment all of their life will more likely than not be influenced by the people around them, twisted as those people may be.  

In a more extreme sense, we see this with how Akito isolated young Yuki and still isolates Kureno. Akito rarely allows anyone to see Kureno, keeping him by his side as much as possible, not giving him a chance to break free from his chains. The same went for Yuki. Again, Akito instilled in him that the outside world was pitch black and that no one would accept him out there, that it was dangerous to interact with people outside because they’d find him strange and weird.

2. “Induced Dependency- Cults demand absolute, unquestioning devotion, loyalty and submission. A cult member’s sense of self is systematically destroyed. Ultimately, feelings of worthlessness and “evil” become associated with independence and critical thinking, and feelings of warmth and love become associated with unquestioning submission…

Any doubts, assertiveness or remaining ties to the outside world are punished by the group through criticism, guilt and alienation. Questions and doubts are systematically “turned around” so that the doubter feels wrong, worthless, “evil” for questioning. The member is loved again when he renounces those doubts and submits to the will of the leader.”

We see this when Kyo questions why Akito allowed Tohru to live with them if he hates her so much, if he’s using her for something. In response to Kyo questioning, Akito retorts, “You’re always quick to make me the villain, huh?…You even killed your own mom! Do you think you have the right to fall in love with someone?! Do you think that’s allowed?! Kyo. Hey, Kyo. Think about it. Who’s the real villain here? Who’s the one who involved her the most?” When Kyo gives in, Akito becomes more “loving” towards him, saying, “It’s okay, I’ll go visit you in confinement. I’ll be by your side, so you won’t be alone. I love you. I actually love you so much, Kyo. Be a good boy from now on.“

Akito loves using people’s trauma against them, knows how to use it in such an awfully cruel way. In Kyo’s case, he has been told that he’s a monster his whole life even by his dad. His mother took her life and everyone blames it on him. It’s not simple to erase that guilt he feels from even though he has positive influences around him. (Ex: Kazuma, Tohru.) That’s how Akito breaks him down. Even if he knows Akito is a cruel person, it doesn’t erase the idea from his mind that he is a monster and that, despite Akito being the way he is, that he is right. Akito knows this. He manipulative and knows how to make people bend to his will.

“The leader may randomly alternate praise and love with scorn and punishment to keep the member off-balance and confused and instill immense self-doubt. The leader may offer occasional gifts and special privileges to encourage continued submission.”

We see this with how Akito tells everyone he “loves” them, but, at the same time, emotionally and physically abuses them to keep them in check. The situation with Kyo in the annex applies here too.

3. “Dread- Once complete dependence is established, the member must retain the leader’s good favor or else his life falls apart.

The leader may punish doubt or insubordination with physical or emotional trauma.”

I believed I’ve already used up all the examples I can use that won’t be spoilers, so I’ll copy the examples I used under the definition. Ex: Not doing anything about Yuki being locked and tormented in a dark room by Akito for a majority of his young life, Akito partially blinding Hatori + ruining him and Kana’s relationship, Akito harming Tohru, and Akito pushing Rin off from what looked to be the third floor of a building.

“Once all ties to the outside world have been cut, the member feels like his only family is the group, and he has nowhere else to go.

A specific example of this would be how Yuki felt when his mom gave him up to Akito. To quote him, “I thought that if she abandoned me, if she deserted me, everything would turn dark, and it would be the end to everything.”

“Access to necessities depends on the leader’s favor. The member must "behave” or he may not get food, water, social interaction or protection from the outside world.”

Again, Akito’s isolation of Kureno and Yuki applies here. There are some spoilery things I won’t mention that are very applicable here too.

To end off,

Indoctrination, or thought reform, is a long process that never really ends. Members are continually subjected to these techniques – it’s part of daily life in a cult. Some adjust well to it after a period of time, embracing their new role as “group member” and casting aside their old sense of independence. For others, it’s a perpetually stressful existence.

The zodiac were born into an extremely twisted environment. It’s pretty much all they’ve ever known. They think the way they are living is the way it is supposed to be and something that can not be changed. Akito is the head of the family and has the support of many Sohma elders/adults including most of the zodiacs’ very own parents. It is also worth noting that the Sohmas are a very rich and powerful clan (Notice how they even have a hospital under their name as shown in episode 5 of s2. That’s how Akito/the parents can get away with abusing the zodiac kids and putting them in the hospital without anyone reporting them.); if they really wanted to prevent someone from acting out against them they very easily could and could easily pay off authorities if anyone managed to report them. Another reason why real life cults are so successful is because of corrupt law enforcement who are willing to turn the other cheek if they are paid enough and deep political ties. 

So, with all that being said, you can see why it would be natural for them to feel trapped, to feel that they have no choice. Adults around them that were supposed to take care of them and protect them instead used them for their own benefit/let them be a part of such a twisted system. Abuse, childhood abuse especially, is something that can irrevocably damage a person’s mind. The effects of abuse and trauma are nothing to scoff at. Even healthy adults who’ve never been in that kind of environment can be brainwashed by a cult if they’re unlucky enough to get caught up in one.

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.16

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time in trial 5 (trial 5!!!!), Kaito had a delightful background slip-up about his number of wounds which could only exist in the localisation, Kokichi super evilly made Kaito talk about nipples from beyond the grave, suspicion fell on Maki, who didn’t even try to argue that she wouldn’t kill Kaito, Kaito refused to be cruel to her like Kokichi definitely would in the biggest clue that he’s not really Kokichi, had been believing in Shuichi to get to the truth and start helping Maki in his place, and then Shuichi and Maki had an adorable talk about their friendship with Kaito that Kaito was so moved by he forgot he was supposed to be Kokichi for a while.

Now we’re here just past the intermission, as Maki is about to begin recounting the events she was part of last night.

Maki:  “The Flashback Light became the motive.”

At least Maki realises now on some level that she was manipulated into this, even though she doesn’t realise just how deep that manipulation goes.

Maki:  “When Kokichi remembered that he was a Remnant of Despair, I planned to kill him.”

Geez, localisers, don’t fall asleep on the job. Clearly Kokichi did not remember anything of the sort. Maki is supposed to be saying “when we remembered that Kokichi was a Remnant”, and they messed this up thanks to Japanese’s lack of subjects.

(Imagine if Kokichi had seen that Flashback Light, though. Would it have suddenly given him memories of actually being a Remnant of Despair instead of just a petty clown? And if it had, would he have believed those memories? Probably not.)

Maki:  “I thought that if I killed him, this game… and the battle between hope and despair… would end.”

That’s the problem with seeing this whole deal as like a battle between good and evil that needs to be “won” – and unfortunately Maki still doesn’t realise that the Flashback Light gave her that thought as well.

Maki:  “I was confident in my talent as an assassin. I knew I would be able to do it.”

It’s still so heartbreaking that that’s the only thing Maki truly has confidence in about herself. The Flashback Light very much preyed on that, too.

Tsumugi:  “We’ve tried to end this killing game before, but…”

Maki:  “…We were naive.”

Tsumugi:  “Huh?”

Maki:  “That’s what I thought. I knew Kokichi would take advantage of my naivete, simply because it’s him.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee… Maki totally gets me.”

Maki:  “That’s why I needed to settle it myself.”

This part reads a bit awkward, because it seems like Maki is acknowledging that she was being naïve for trying to kill Kokichi. (Which she was, but she definitely isn’t aware of that, and especially wasn’t before she even tried to do so.) I think this is another localisation goof and she’s supposed to be saying that Kokichi was going to take advantage of their naivete, as a group, for thinking they could just swoop in and rescue Kaito, which is why she decided to take matters into her own hands instead of sticking with the plan.

(Okay, actually the localisation made this even more confusing. It sounds like Tsumugi’s first line there was originally something to the effect of “But we told you not to do that!” (about killing Kokichi). And then Maki calls that notion naïve. That makes a lot more sense.)

Also look at Kaito chipping in with a very simple bit of ad-libbing, despite having most likely been very confused by all this talk just a second ago about a Flashback Light and something to do with remnants???

Maki:  “But when I entered the hangar, I saw something I never expected.”

You never expected Kaito to have also taken matters into his own hands and be doing something haphazard and reckless? Come on, Maki, you know him.

Maki:  “Kaito and Kokichi were fighting each other.”

This illustration does not do a great job of showing them actually fighting. According to this, they were just standing awkwardly a few feet apart from each other, after Kaito had fired the arrow, even though, since he only had one arrow, threatening him from that point would be useless (and he’s not even holding the crossbow any more apparently). I much prefer the Closing Argument’s version where as soon as he fires, Kaito then throws the crossbow aside and leaps at Kokichi.

Maki:  “…I wanted Kokichi to confess his true intentions before he died. And find out why he was always lying and trying to confuse us.”

Don’t we all, Maki. Don’t we all. The poison being slow-acting is obviously because it needed to be for the sake of the plot, but this is a very reasonable in-universe reason why she’d have wanted to use it.

(Turns out that in Japanese, the Strike-9 poison is instead literally just called “Lethal Torture Poison”. Which sure does seem like something one would decide to use for this purpose.)

And yes, of course, torture is awful and wrong and doesn’t actually work to force the truth out of people, just like it clearly didn’t with Kokichi here. But Maki has been raised in a world where torture is an entirely normal and accepted approach for things like this (she was tortured, specifically so that she could learn to withstand it if anyone tried it to get information out of her, as if it would totally have worked on her if she hadn’t been used to it), so she doesn’t realise that.

Maki:  “He could’ve made it seem as if the late Junko was secretly behind this killing game. That way, he could reveal himself as the ‘surprise mastermind’ to liven up the game.”

I dunno, Maki. A surprise mastermind out of nowhere that we’ve never even met before isn’t a very exciting plot twist. Junko being the surprise mastermind in DR1 only worked as a plot twist because we thought we knew her and that she was dead. It’s much more interesting when one of the students we’ve been with all along turns out to have been the mastermind the whole time.

Maki:  “Because of his suspicious actions, anyone would already suspect him as the mastermind.”

…Mind you, that doesn’t work so well when said supposed mastermind has been an actively obstructive untrustworthy dick the entire time, which I guess is what Maki was really getting at. Which is to say, even Maki technically doubted the notion that Kokichi was the mastermind because it seemed too obvious, despite the fact that she still ended up convinced of it thanks to the Flashback Light.

Maki:  “Especially with that message in the courtyard. Kokichi said it was a hint, but was it necessary for him to go out of his way just for a hint?”

More to the point, was it necessary for him to murder two people just for a hint? That was going out of his way far more than just writing a silly message, and was still only for a goddamn hint. No, I’m still not over how not okay of him that was.

Kaito has to be so lost at all this talk about the Remnants of Despair and how the supposed mastermind-Kokichi apparently might have wanted his killing game to fail.

Kokichi:  “Wh-What are you… talking about…? Remnants of Despair… what’s that…? I-I don’t understand… anything… you’re saying…”

For once, Kokichi was telling the truth! But of course Maki would assume he wasn’t. He brought that on himself.

(Although you’d think he could have figured out that “Remnants of Despair” is what she’s been led to think is the name of the evil doomsday cult he’s totally the leader of and then just play along anyway. But, eh.)

It’s honestly a little awkward that for this whole flashback part where Maki was interrogating Kokichi, we don’t see what Kaito was doing. Surely he’d have been trying to talk her out of it, or also ask what the hell she was going on about? The writing seems to conveniently forget he was there just so he doesn’t get in the way, until the part where he’s supposed to, and it’s a shame.

This does mean that when Kaito heard everyone talking about Remnants of Despair during the trial, he had heard the term before. But he probably also didn’t know whether Kokichi was really telling the truth about knowing nothing about it here, so he figures in the trial that simply not talking about it is the safest bet. We also don’t actually hear exactly what Maki asked Kokichi about before this line here, so it’s unclear if she ever mentioned Junko and Kaito had heard that name before, too.

Kokichi:  “But a-anyway… why are you… starting up the k-killing game… when it should’ve ended?”

While Kokichi’s response to the interrogation up until here was genuinely the truth, this part is a lie, because Kokichi had to have known that someone, most likely Maki, would do this. He knew there was a real mastermind who wouldn’t take well to him making everything boring and would do whatever it took to start up the killing game again. Kokichi himself was planning on restarting the killing game that night with his plan to fool Monokuma, which he already had the script for ready by this point – his intention in showing them the outside world was never to end it there.

Kokichi:  “Y-You already… know it’s all meaningless… and th-that I’m the mastermind…”

Also a lie, of course – even the part about everything being meaningless. Maki was trying to torture him into telling the truth with the poison, and some parts he said really were truthful… but he was also clinging to the lies he’d already told that were necessary for his plan.

Kokichi:  “Do you… love killing that much?”

Maki:  “…Shut up, you asshole!”

Kokichi is definitely deliberately goading Maki into shooting him again here. This is possibly the single most remarkably quick-thinking part of his plan, here in this one moment.

Kokichi can feel that the arrow was poisoned. He knows that Kaito is precisely the kind of person who would jump in the way if Maki was about to shoot him fatally. And he has to know that the bottles of antidote in Shuichi’s lab only contain one dose. He wants Maki to shoot Kaito with a poison arrow right here, so that he can pull off the whole fake-antidote-drinking gambit, convince Maki that she killed Kaito, and make everything even more confusing for Monokuma. And he barely had a minute or two, from the moment Maki’s arrow hit him, to come up with this, while also reeling from the pain of the poison and responding to her questions. That is really damn impressive.

…It doesn’t change the fact that his entire overall plan was always inevitably going to fail because Shuichi is amazing, but. Props to him for this part, at least.

Shuichi:  “Kaito… protected Kokichi!?”

Of course he did! Of course he would! That’s such a wonderfully idiotically recklessly selflessly Kaito thing to do!

And an important thing to note is that Kaito only did this because he didn’t know the arrows were poisoned. If he’d known, then the correct way to save Kokichi (and more importantly Maki) would have been to bolt out of the hangar to Shuichi’s lab and grab the antidote for Kokichi as soon as Maki fired the first arrow (in the hope that she’d take the hint from his desperation and not finish Kokichi off while he was gone). Obviously Maki never felt the need to mention the poison while she was interrogating Kokichi, but Kokichi probably made a conscious choice not to mention it either, because his plan was already forming in his head and he knew that making Kaito aware of the poison would ruin his chance.

Maki:  “At that moment, my mind went blank. I knew I had to do something about the poison. I rushed to Shuichi’s research lab for the antidote.”

Luckily for her it seems the crossbow was still in her hand, so she took it away with her without having needed the presence of mind to think to do so.

What she really should have done, if she’d had more presence of mind, is take Kaito with her. She should have grabbed him and dragged him out of there to come and get the antidote with her so that she could be sure she could get it to him. If she’d been able to think about it, she’d realise that Kokichi had complete control over the hangar and would have been able to prevent her getting back inside and therefore getting the antidote to Kaito if she left him in there. Her mind really did just go completely blank.

Maki:  “I used Strike-9 poison to torture Kokichi for info, but I planned to kill him from the start.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Ah-haha! That’s sooo mean!”

He is being so light-hearted about the fact that Maki was planning to torture and murder someone. The real Kokichi would be feeling incredibly vindictive and vengeful about this, especially because it’s Maki.

Kaito is probably being so flippant about this because he does not enjoy the idea that Maki is still capable of something like this and doesn’t want to dwell on it. He knows she can be a better person than that, and rubbing in how cruel and heartless she was able to be here isn’t going to help her become better.

Maki:  “But that was my first mistake. Because of that… …” [she grimaces]

Tsumugi:  “You what…?”

Maki:  “…I ended up killing Kaito.”

It hurts so much for her to admit this. She’d have told herself she hid the truth entirely to try and get Kokichi killed, but in reality there must have been a part of her that just didn’t even want it to be the truth at all.

(Kaito must be really, really wishing he could tell her right now that it’s not.)

Maki:  “When I returned with the antidote, the hangar shutter had been closed.”

Maki’s voice begins to get a lot more emotional from this point. Likely in part because she just outwardly admitted she killed Kaito, but also because she’d be remembering the state of utter desperate panic she was in while all this was happening.

Kokichi:  “Sorry… but I can’t die here. Since I’m… the mastermind of this killing game…”

Kokichi would like to let everyone know that he is definitely the mastermind of this killing game and is definitely about to drink this antidote and not die.

And by “everyone”, I actually just mean Maki right now and not even Monokuma, because Kokichi would have thrown the Electrobomb before Maki came back with the antidote. The less Monokuma knows, the better – and the Nanokumas may be able to get close enough to the antidote bottle to see that it’s still full after he “drinks” it. Not that Kokichi necessarily knows about the Nanokumas in particular (more on that in chapter 6 – he might have done), but he wouldn’t want to underestimate Monokuma’s surveillance.

Kokichi:  “Oh… you don’t have to worry about Kaito. He fulfilled his dream, right? He already… went to space.”

The absolute gall Kokichi has here, to say this while knowing full well that Kaito has not in fact gone to space in any shape or form. How dare.

Even if that story were the truth, it would still be barely any consolation for Kaito, though. He wants to experience being in space and see those stars up close! It’s not even remotely the same when he only knows it happened but was unconscious at the time and then forgot all about it anyway.

(I do like, though, that this is a bonus reminder that Kaito cannot and must not die before he has gone to space. Not even from Kaito himself this time!)

Kokichi:  “Phew! I feel so much better!”

Yes, because he definitely drank that antidote! Honestly, this reads a lot like the kind of things Kokichi usually says that are deliberately meant to sound like lies. I’m surprised he risked delivering this line in such a flippant way.

Kokichi:  “You’ll be the blackened for this case, y’know? The blackened who killed Kaito.”

This sounds believably like just Kokichi being a dick and rubbing in Maki’s pain, but also this is him emphasising that Maki definitely killed Kaito and that’s definitely going to be the truth in this upcoming class trial.

Kaito:  “Shut it! Screw the class trials! Like hell am I gonna let you have your way!”

Kaito is not giving up! Even though there is absolutely no way out of this situation for him or Maki as far as he can see, that’s not going to stop him from being as stubborn and defiant as possible about this!

Maki:  “Kaito, why did you protect Kokichi!? If you didn’t help him, then—”

Kaito:  “I couldn’t help it… Even if it’s Kokichi… I-I can’t… have you kill anybody!”

Maki:  “…What?”

Kokichi:  “Aww… Kaito wasn’t protecting me… He was protecting Maki!”

Of course he was! I’m sure there was also a part of him that didn’t want Kokichi to die, mastermind or not, but far more important to him is not letting Maki kill anybody ever again. He was fulfilling that promise he essentially made to her at the beginning of chapter 4!

Also, look at how Maki is surprised to hear that. She’s so used to the thought that she’s just a murderer that it didn’t even occur to her that Kaito would risk his life to prevent her from killing anyone else. If it had, she’d have known that trying to kill Kokichi like this would be putting Kaito’s life in danger, and she might not have risked it, or would at least have gone about it differently.

Kokichi:  “…The situation just got way worse, huh? Maki is gonna become the blackened responsible for killing you… all because you protected me.”

This seems to be the truth to Kaito and Maki right now. But Kaito never expresses any regret over doing what he did. He never meant for it to turn out this way, after all. He did exactly what he always would have done in the situation he was presented with (not knowing the arrows were poisoned), and it’s not his fault that things weren���t as he thought and he ended up making it worse. It’s kind of like the time he told Kaede not to apologise for encouraging everyone to go through the escape tunnel, because her intentions were good when she did it and she never meant for it to turn out badly. He’s getting his own apology thing right for once.

(But, even though things seem worse right now because apparently Kaito is the one who’s going to die from Maki’s poison, it still actually is a good thing that Kaito did that! If he hadn’t, Maki would have killed Kokichi instantly with that arrow and Kokichi wouldn’t have been able to tell Kaito the plan and give him the chance to save Maki after all.)

Kaito:  “D-Don’t you worry, Maki Roll. I’m not gonna die that easily…”

Of course not! He’s invincible! Obviously he’s not just going to up and die on her like that! Dying is not a thing that Kaito does or has ever been doing at any point.

Kaito:  “Just leave it to me. I’ll put an end to this killing game!”

He’s going to do something about this! He has even less of an idea what he could possibly do than any other time he’s made that promise, but god damn it, that still does not change how badly he wants to. And he has to try and help Maki believe that things are going to be alright somehow, even though he knows they almost certainly aren’t.

Kokichi:  “Ah-haha… You’re still full of energy, even like that. You really are… not boring.”

Congratulations, Kaito, you just received Kokichi’s Highest Compliment™. Only Kaede ever got that before.

Kaito:  “What?”

But Kaito just seems bewildered that that’s all Kokichi has to say about him at a time like this. He’s not trying to be entertaining, he’s just trying not to give up.

(Just like everyone in this killing game has been doing, regardless of what the outside world wants of them.)

Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee… I wanna see what a dying Kaito can do.”

I would say “joke’s on you, Kaito’s been dying this whole time”, but of course Kokichi knows that. And actually, a dying Kaito can’t really do much unless someone else has a better plan than he could come up with that he’ll swallow his pride and agree to because of how desperate he is. Kokichi knew that, too; he’d proven it already. His proposal with the Electrohammers a few days ago was partially a test run for this.

Kokichi:  “So show me what you’ve got! I won’t meddle with your plans!”

It is a very good thing for Kaito that this is a lie. His own plans could not get him or Maki out of this.

Kaito:  “Don’t mind me… Run, Maki Roll!”

Of course she shouldn’t be worrying about him. Even if he really is about to die, that doesn’t matter so long as she’s okay, right?

Kaito:  “Just… hurry up and run… Run… and live! You gotta live!”

But he knows that she’s not going to be okay and she’s not going to live unless he can pull of some kind of impossible miracle and he doesn’t have a clue how to do that. Kaito wants more than anything right now for Maki to get out of this alive, and he has to be feeling so pathetically helpless in his inability to do that, but he’s still trying to stay positive and act like she’s going to be okay just to give her (and himself) some tiny semblance of hope. Kaito is stubborn and brave and incredible.

(The only thing he really could have done, if Kokichi had in fact drank the antidote like he believes, is kill himself before the poison does. I wonder if that thought had crossed Kaito’s mind here.)

As a side note, if you happened to want to know exactly how much pain Kaito is in (and Kokichi as well, I guess) in this scene, you should listen to the Japanese voice acting for it. In that, Kaito is not able to keep the pain out of his voice at all, and you can hear every single bit of his agony. But while that is… A Thing, I do think Kaito’s English voice acting here is objectively better for the story. Kokichi is capable of hiding the pain he’s in (in both versions) to the point of sounding completely fine once he “drinks” the antidote. And if anything, Kaito should be even better at hiding pain than Kokichi, because he’s had so much practice at it already. So while Kaito is in even more pain than Kokichi here because he’s not only poisoned but also horribly sick, he should still be able to do a pretty damn good job of hiding it, too. This is indeed the case in English – you can tell he’s in pain but also that he’s fighting as hard as he can not to sound like it and somewhat succeeding, because of course he doesn’t want Maki to worry about him. The idea that he’s either not trying to or he’s just not able to hide his pain in Japanese should clearly not be true about him on both fronts.

Maki:  “But, I refused to give up… I tried to enter the hangar by breaking the control panel with my knife… In the end… I couldn’t…”

Even if she could have got inside, what could she have done? Kill Kokichi in front of Kaito, even though he gave his life to stop her from doing that? Watch Kaito die in her arms? There was nothing she could have possibly done at that point to change the fact that she’d killed Kaito. But clearly Maki was so desperate that she had lost all reason and just did not care.

Maki:  “After that, I returned to the bathroom window once more, but I didn’t see anyone.”

They’d already started plotting in the main hangar by then, presumably. Kokichi definitely didn’t want to give Maki a chance to see who really drank the antidote.

Maki:  “I couldn’t do anything anymore… All I could do… was leave. That’s when I made up my mind.”

She made up her mind right then, still utterly broken and distraught over having killed Kaito. In so much pain that killing everyone else as well couldn’t possibly hurt any worse than this, and desperately wanting all this not to have been for nothing, no matter what it took. Then she clung to that thought even as she forced herself to suppress the pain like she always does and convince herself it didn’t bother her. It was just another murder, like any other job she’s done, and now she’s just got one more job she has to do and then it’ll all be over.

Keebo:  “Then Kokichi, knowing what he knew, still helped Maki cover up her crime?”

Himiko:  “Was that why you smushed Kaito in the hydraulic press?”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Kaito wanted Maki to be spotless. As his friend, I felt obliged to help him.”

Of course Kaito wanted Maki to be spotless! That’s precisely why someone did get smushed in the hydraulic press! (Well, half the reason, at any rate.)

I don’t think the real Kokichi would have really thought to lie that he did it because he wanted to help Kaito – again, that’s never something that would readily come to mind for him as a lie – but this does still come across as dickishly Kokichi-esque simply because of the audacity of acting like Kaito was totally his friend after everything.

It’s also interesting that he specifically says he wanted Maki to be spotless. The others were just talking about him covering up the crime to hide the fact that Maki did it, but Exisal Kokichi is talking about how he supposedly made it so that Maki wasn’t even the blackened. Which hasn’t even started to actually come up as a possibility yet, and really he shouldn’t want to tell them it’s a possibility because that’s one step closer to figuring out the real truth. But of course Kaito would be willing to forgo the small benefit to the plan for the sake of making Maki slightly more able to believe she maybe didn’t really kill him after all.

Maki:  “How dare you… make fun of him!”

Look at Maki acting on how much she cared about Kaito! She doesn’t even want to hear him being made fun of despite how often she would tease him and call him an idiot herself! It’s one thing to do that kind of thing when it’s between friends and it’s all good-natured and they’re mutually aware that they care about each other beneath it, but someone who never cared about him at all has no right to do that. She must specifically hate that he’s supposedly making light of Kaito’s desire to prevent her from killing anyone.

Maki:  “You call yourself a friend…? You enjoyed watching us suffer! You… fuckin’ asshole!”

Damn, Maki. Not that she doesn’t have every right to be this angry, after Kokichi thoroughly convinced her he really was this much of an asshole. Since she believes that so completely, it probably crossed her mind after having killed Kaito that Kokichi would be getting a huge kick out of her pain, and she’d have hated him even more because of it.

Exisal Kokichi:  “Ooohh, Maki is so scaaary. Good thing I’m in this Exisal. Pretty sure Maki would have already killed me if I was out there in the flesh.”

This line is most likely scripted as just a general response to if Maki said or did anything particularly threatening towards him (containing a reminder of why it is totally necessary for him to be in the Exisal). It is also likely that the original version of this line was more harsh and biting and Kaito edited it to be less so.

With the “truth” out in the open, Exisal Kokichi brings everyone back to the choice they were planning to make over whether or not to vote correctly. Kaito might be bringing the focus back to the vote deliberately in the hope that maybe they can go through with that before Shuichi figures out anything more about the real truth. It’s a long shot, but it’s worth a try.

Exisal Kokichi:  “Welp, choose whichever you want. I don’t care either way.”

Himiko:  “Why…? Why are you so calm? Your life depends on this, too!”

Because it doesn’t! He’s going to die at the end of this trial no matter what happens, and so long as Monokuma still has no idea of the real truth, everyone else is safe and the plan will succeed no matter who they vote for.

This is an ad-lib, so maybe it’s kind of a slip-up for Kaito to outright admit that he doesn’t care either way. If he really doesn’t, then it definitely suggests to everyone that there’s more going on here than has currently been made clear and his life literally doesn’t depend on this.

Exisal Kokichi:  “Who cares? Just choose already. C’mon, who are you gonna vote for?”

So here he is, rather awkwardly trying to act like that doesn’t mean anything suspicious and distract attention away from his behaviour and back to the vote.

Shuichi:  “No, we can’t vote yet. …We don’t have the whole truth. This case isn’t over!”

Exisal Kokichi:  “…Huh?”

Come on, Kaito, you knew. You knew Shuichi wasn’t ever going to let things go this easily and would have seen something that pointed him towards the real truth, because he’s awesome like that.

---

[Next post]

[foxcroft-rpg-blog]

Congratulations, Angie! Your application was so well thought out. I had a lot of fears when it came to Val applications, because it’s so easy to make her too rebellious, or too devoted to her religion, but I really think you struck a nice balance. I’m so excited to see where you take our cult leader babe. 

Thanks again for applying! Please create your account and send in the link, track the right tags, and follow everyone on the masterlist as soon as you can. Welcome to Foxcroft!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Angie

Age: 20

Preferred pronouns: She/her

Time zone:EST

Activity:On a scale from 1-10 I’d place myself at a 7. I’m a full-time college student, but my schedule’s been pretty light this semester and finals are still a little over a month away, so there’s not many impediments at the moment that could affect my activity.

Anything else?:Nope! I do want to apologize though for having been such a hassle about fc choices. Why are you like this @me.

IN CHARACTER

Full name:Valerie Pineda

Date of birth:October 25th, 1989 / / S c o r p i o

How long have they been in Foxcroft:Valerie’s lived in Foxcroft all her life. It’s where she’s conducted God’s work under the banner of Deathless and its twisted belief system, and it’s where she’ll continue to strive for salvation for its other members, no matter the cost.

Sexuality: Am I allowed to say questioning? I imagine that given her strict conservative upbringing, Val would’ve had heteronormativity beaten into her on the regular. That said, she was always one to push boundaries and skirt around rules when it suited her, so I feel like she might’ve experimented with the opposite gender in her shameless pursuit for that ultimate adrenaline high. Nowadays, with her being even more committed to her religion, I think that she’d be more inclined towards playing it safe with her sexuality to kind of build on this otherworldly image she’s built for herself, even though there’s a lot of misplaced confusion and guilt wrapped in there.

FC Change: Eiza Gonzalez, Camila Mendes, Emeraude Toubia

MORE

How do you interpret this character’s personality? How will you portray them? Include two weaknesses and two strengths. (2+ paragraphs)

+ charismatic, dedicated, crafty

- manipulative, obsessive, self-serving

She was always a spirited little thing. With a pistol for a mouth and a smile that seemed to beget trouble for the mere sake of it, Valerie’s inherent grit was the one thing neither her parents nor the nuns at school could ever really beat out of her, for hers was a particular brand of recklessness that bypassed the traditionalism of her upbringing; a bold addiction to life that couldn’t be reined in. She was cigarette smoke seeping from beneath the door of the girl’s lavatory; she was the burn of whiskey at the back of one’s throat; she was loud, rambunctious laughter and legs flailing from atop the water tower; she was invincible.

And no one could convince her otherwise.

It’s her religion that grounds her. Never one to limit herself to the restrictions of convention, Valerie is nevertheless a staunch believer in her God. To those who don’t know her very well, it can be hard to reconcile the image of the wild child from her early years with the devoted Catholic that routinely attends church service. But for the select few in her inner circle, it’s not quite as difficult to understand how it is she does it, funneling that same frenzied energy, a trademark of Foxcroft’s finest delinquent, into the religious zeal that’s now come to define her character. It’s her faith that defines her and it’s her faith that brings out the very best and the very worst of Valerie Pineda.

There’s the charismatic side that resembles your typical cult leaders’. At first glance there’s something magnetic to her spirited ways. Val projects a confidence and plucky sort of charm that’s been known to draw people in; she knows how to make them feel special. Whether it’s in convincing the other children at church to join her cause, or reaching out to lost souls and lending them a purpose in life, she knows how to foster feelings of belonging among others and inspire loyalty. Her silver-tongued charisma and apparent kindness don’t always stem from a place of cold calculation, though, and this is underscored by her real sense of devotion to Deathless. They’re in many ways the closest thing she’s got to a family and though self-preservation will typically have her prioritizing her own safety and well-being over theirs, they’re not simply a means to an end for her anymore as they too deserve to know the grace of God’s salvation.

Then there’s the uglier, more merciless side. In essence, Valerie is a taker, not a giver. She takes from those she calls friends, like Jonah and Jack; their choices, their independence, their sanity – she takes it all and bends them to her own will because she thinks she knows what’s best for them, and with Val what’s best for others tends to coincide a lot with what’s best for her. She takes from Marcus Murphy, dragging him into her convoluted web, knowing full well that he can’t afford to go against her word. And, ultimately, though not by her own hand, she took Hazel Abram’s life the minute she decided salvation demanded a sacrifice.

Religious devotion and an almost narcissistic fixation to rise above her own mortality has warped the finer elements of Val’s personality. She’s become a more intense and possessive version of herself in her quest for immortality, twisted by her ambitions and ego into a frightfully selfish creature not entirely of sound mind. But when all is said and done, no matter how hard and how long she’s aspired to heights of otherworldliness, Val remains inherently human at her core. She doesn’t want to go at it alone and, in truth, the reality of an immortal life spent entirely on her own scares her as much as the prospect of death.  

How did this character react to the death of Hazel Abrams? Adam Foxcroft? (1+ paragraphs)

Her engineering of Hazel Abram’s death wasn’t so much a necessary evil as it was the most pivotal moment in Valerie Pineda’s life. It was a game changer for her in more ways than one, simultaneously earning her the immortality she’d so long craved while cementing the cruel lengths she’ll go to, to get what she wants. From that point on, there was no going back. While she’d publicly feign regret over the loss of life in the days to follow, Val privately felt not a shred of remorse for her actions. Sacrifices, after all, were always made in service of something bigger than all of them and the rest of Deathless would come to thank her one day when they too knew glory of salvation. Her one and only concern came in covering for Jonah, something she continues to do to this day both out of pragmatism and loyalty.

Adam Foxcroft’s death complicated matters. The recent tragedy has once again shined the spotlight on the Hazel Abram case and Val worries about how this could affect Jonah and Deathless. The execution of Adam’s death, so similar to that of Hazel’s, has also raised her suspicions. She wonders to herself if a member of Deathless was behind the murder, having chosen to go rogue and ignore her instructions in what she could only construe as a damning act of betrayal.

How do they see the town and its people? Think about the different groups of people and prejudices the town holds about them. (1+ paragraphs)

Val has never been particularly prejudiced in her view of the fellow townspeople. Hailing from a devout Catholic family that’s lived in relative modesty all their lives, she belonged neither to the affluent heights of the Foxcroft family, nor the poverty of the swamps. Instead, her free-spiritedness led her to befriend town residents from all walks of life, especially those with similarly troubled backgrounds as her own. It’s because of this open-mindedness that she’s been able to build Deathless up from scratch, inviting into the fold people that she knows have little to lose and everything to gain from a newfound sense of purpose.

For non-human characters: What does this character know about what they’ve become? Have they had any experiences that made them aware that weren’t exactly human? Elaborate. (2+ paragraphs)

Countless nights were spent by Valerie burning the midnight oil at both ends as she poured over every religious text she could get her hands on. She’s known in her heart of hearts for ages now that she’s meant for something greater. All those times she defied death had her fully convinced that she’d been made in God’s image, that she was truly untouchable, and as such all that remained to seal the deal was the assurance of a godly life: an immortal life. And so, she delved into her research, desperate to reach what she believed to be her fullest potential.

That fateful night at Sweetwater Church changed everything. Valerie can still remember hearing the loud bang of a single gunshot echoing around the altar; she can remember the rosary around her neck bursting to pieces, cracked beads rolling about on the floor as Marcus Murphy blew a hole through her chest. Above all else, she can remember that feeling of overwhelming triumph as she lifted her head up to meet his eyes, teeth spread in a wide grin while the gaping hole in her chest began to stitch itself back together. That was when she knew it’d all been worth it.

Please include 1-2 possible plots your see for this character (1 paragraph brief explanation for each)

i. From what I could tell Valerie doesn’t seem to be aware of the other forces at work in Foxcroft, namely the rest of the non-human species lurking around town. I definitely think that a realization on her end later on in the rp’s story could bring with it a lot of interesting repercussions that would be hella fun to explore. As someone who’s suffered so much for her faith and sacrificed so much of herself in service of it, I would imagine she wouldn’t be too pleased to know that there are others out there that have been similarly gifted with abilities beyond the realm of human imagination. I figure she’d still be deluded and egotistic enough to view immortality as the only real form of salvation, but it’d be cool to see how she’d deal with that turn of events and if it’d be enough to drive her over the edge.

ii. Literally anything and everything to do with Deathless. What I find most fascinating about Valerie is how she’s managed to cultivate this cult of hers by collecting people like a serial killer would trophies (that’s not a weird example at all angie) and commanding their attentions and allegiance. The lost causes, the broken hearts, the wounded ones that live on the fringes of Foxcroft’s society – she’s found ways to connect with them and bring them into the sphere of her fanaticism, and while not all of them are as devoted to her as they initially were, I still think it’d be cool to build on those dynamics and test just how far some members might go to stay in her good books, or how much they can put up with before choosing to actively go against her.

WRITING SAMPLE

There are two options here, and you only need to complete one.

( I hope it’s okay that I linked you to two of my past rp blogs – I just didn’t want to overcrowd this section. )

( para sample #1 ): (x) ( para sample #2 ): (x)

EXTRA [THIS SECTION WILL NOT INFLUENCE ACCEPTANCE]

How would you feel about this character dying?: I don’t know enough about the lore surrounding the town to know if an immortal can really die, but if it is a possibility or ends up becoming one later down the line, I’d be okay with it. Valerie’s story is so tightly wound with death and immortality, and her motives so fixed upon her determination to cheat death, that I think it’d be an interesting route to explore.

Why did you choose this character?:While I was initially toying around with the idea of applying for either Nina or Summer, it was Valerie’s bio that I kept being drawn back to. I think what struck me the most about Valerie is that hers is a character that could so easily be cast in the same mold as your typical religious zealot, yet there’s nothing one note about her. She’s defiant but committed; ruthlessly calculating but intensely passionate; self-serving to a fault but still willing to go above and beyond to protect her Deathless family. There’s so many layers there to work with, so much depth to uncover, that I feel she’d be a blast to play.

Extras: Here’s a playlist I made for Valerie (x)

How did you find us?: I was poking around the lsrpg tag and came across your promos there.