#plus most characters in this show are so bitter and resentful its nice to have someone be at a little mature for once

[helluvahotmess]

i dont think fizz and blitz mending their relationship was that rushed. like fizz is in a good place mentally and emotionally (compared to most other characters in this show he's doing alright)

plus he didnt completely forgive blitz (or was suddenly totally ok with everything that happened), more like he's ok with him being in his life again (they've got a lot of work to do)

[zerochanges]

Night of the Banshee

With less than a week or so to go, Halloween this year is fast approaching. So now’s the time to get in the last few frights and scares before we all start our unnecessarily long 3 month celebration of Christmas (What? Don’t try to tell me your January isn’t full of Christmas decorations that just refuse to die; like a zombie’s death-grip on some poor background character). Last year I was encumbered with a busy work schedule and really didn’t get to enjoy the frightful holiday, at best I think I saw maybe 20 minutes of Cujo on cable TV and that was pretty much the extent of my spooks that year. So this year I wanted to do something special and check out something truly horrifying. Which leads us to today’s subject: Banshee’s Last Cry.  

Now what is Banshee’s Last Cry, I hear you asking. Well it is a sound novel released for the iPhone in the US during January of 2014. So then what’s a sound novel you ask. Well, that can be a bit complicated. Similar to a visual novel, a sound novels usually forgo character sprites and CG art and instead focuses more on the novel aspect. It’s much closer to the novel nomenclature and essentially feels like reading a digital book with music and sound effects to amplify the experience. Of course like a visual novel there are still moments where you get to make choices in the story that lead to different endings.

The easiest western comparison would probably be text based adventure games, a genre that similar to the much more popular point ‘n click adventure games faded away a lot as technology advanced but is making a comeback, especially in the indie scene on Steam and the Mobile phone market. For the sake of this article, that’s pretty much all you really need to know about sound novels, but yes, any nerd I may have just upset; you are right, it’s much more complicated; a lot of games will use that label and have just as many visuals as visual novels, and it also started life as more of a brand of games for Chunsoft (the developer of today’s game) but yet nowadays some of the most famous sound novels like Higurashi When They Cry have nothing to do with Chunsoft. Basically, the more you try to categorize things the bigger of a cluster duck it becomes (quack). But really, all you need to understand what the game play in Banshee’s Last Cry’s is like is to just think of classic text adventure games!

(The original Super Famicom box for Kamaitachi no Yoru - 1994)

In Japan Banshee’s Last Cry was originally named Kamaitachi no Yoru (かまいたちの夜 / Night of the Kamaitachi) but the localization company, Aksys Games, renamed it something a lot less Japanese. In America it’s pretty easy to have missed this game but in Japan when it originally released in 1994 for the Super Famicom it was a huge hit and has remained to this day a cult classic that has spawned off numerous sequels, ports, remakes, reimaginings, and even its own live action TV drama (that’s when you KNOW you made it!). Now obviously this mobile phone release is one of the many rereleases for the game, but for us in America this marks the very first (and at the time of this writing -- only) time we have ever seen a release. This is quite momentous considering despite how incredibly popular Kamaitachi no Yoru was in Japan no one has ever tackled translating it for 20 years until this point, not even fan translations; any real attempt or interest shown in the fan community had always fizzled out until then.

This release while momentous however was also met with some concerns, the most obvious of which was its Americanization (or maybe Canadianization?). A lot of fans weren’t incredibly sold on this aspect of the English release when it first revealed. The plot was moved from Japan to Canada (Nagano to Whistler, British Columbia to be precise), and all the characters were renamed to match. The protagonist Toru became Max, and the heroine Mari became Grace, for example. The good thing is you can rename these two to whatever you like--I personally kept Max’s name but changed the heroine back to Mari because her English name also happens to be the name of my pet dog, and that’s weird--I don’t wanna romance a character with my dog’s name (plus I am too unoriginal to think up any other girl’s name for Grace/Mari). You cannot however rename anyone else in the story, and more importantly for those who took issue with this decision, the location change will stick no matter what.

In Japan they have a lot of folklore creatures, or yokai, who have a very long and rich history. This complex hierarchy of creatures, monsters, ghosts, and ghoulies all help to make for incredibly unique literature you just can’t quite recreate in English. That’s not to say the English world does not have its fair share of great horror writers who could conjure up their own parthenon of fantastically terrifying Lovecraftian horrors, but culturally the things that go bump in the night are really quite different between us. While in Japan yokai may seem like a fun part of their own local folklore that kids to adults all have, at the very least, a familiarity with, not much else like that is true for America.

You may have your occasional local legends like the Headless Horsemen (insert Christopher Walken gif here), but there really isn't any cemented creature folklore that everyone just “gets” in America. At least, not anything nearly as rich and complicated as a lot of Asian or even European folklore creatures. The best alternative I can think of off-the-top-of-my-head would be Big Foot, and ‘Night of the Big Feet’ sounds about as menacing as it does sensual. It’s because of this that veteran translator Jeremy Blaustein (Metal Gear Solid, Snatcher) decided to go in a different direction. Americans don’t really have a great set of creature folklore, and obviously outside our own little niche communities of nerds, don’t know Japanese folklore either--and thus would not get much out of the material presented that way--but that isn’t to say there weren’t plenty of other folk creatures out there that are well known to Americans. While Blaustein’s choice of the Banshee has some awkward work-arounds (mainly an Irish ghost being in Canada and all that), it’s something pretty much everyone knows--a part of popular culture that has stayed with us all, and was a really great stand in for a Kamaitachi, or Sickle Weasel.

Not everyone knows what a Kamaitachi is, even anime nerds might not, as it isn’t the most popular yokai (sadly not enough people have read Ushio & Tora), but pretty much anyone knows what a Banshee is. Both creatures also work quite nicely together, setting the right winter horror atmosphere. In the middle of a terrible blizzard, the howling winds have enough force to knock down tress, shatter glass, and even flip over cars. You can feel the cold down to your bones, it’s bitter and resentful, and while it might just be your imagination, the thought that such fierceness could even be enough to cut through you doesn't seem too ludicrous while out there in the storm. In the original Japanese text we had the Kamaitachi that are known for riding on dust devils, and their sickles that can easily be associated with a wind so fierce that it may even scratch you, while in the English text there’s the Banshee, known for their howls--like that of the howling wind. Anyone who has ever been trapped in a fierce wind storm can attest to the truly demonic, otherworldly sounds fierce wind can make--a howling Banshee’s does not seem far off during a terrible blizzard.

What’s important here is that the original essence of the story is coming out for the audience, and in that regard Blaustein succeeds remarkably, creating a very enjoyable reading experience that is truly on par with the Japanese writing. The text is a pleasure to read, and flows incredibly well. The utter horror and sense of being trapped truly leaps off the ‘page’ and it’s a genuinely harrowing experience while also not missing any of the charm and unique humor the original Japanese version is so well known for as well. In his own words Blaustein talks about his decision for such a strong localization as opposed to keeping the original folklore and setting:

“When I asked myself if the idea of small weasels with scythes strapped to the legs would resonate with a Western audience that has no such myth, I had to answer no. Furthermore, even the word "weasel" brings to mind shifty Steve Buscemi-like personalities as opposed to something supernatural and scary. In trying to make a true localization that would capture the essence as opposed to the trappings of the story, I decided Banshee would be more in keeping with the original SPIRIT of the game. From that POV, I feel that I am actually closer to the reproducing the feel of the original for a Western audience than I would be if I had kept it Japanese. It is hard perhaps to explain, but I feel strongly about it.”

So let’s finally talk about this story, as really it’s the whole meat and potatoes of the game and is what it’s all about. Banshee’s Last Cry has a simple premise at first: a group of people are trapped in an Inn during a terrible snowstorm, things soon become suspicious when three of the guests find a note slipped under their door that reads “TONIGHT@MIDNIGHT=DEATH”. The characters initially try to write this off as a prank but it doesn't take long until people go missing and their corpses show up: the first of which is horribly mangled in a grotesque, almost implausible manner, that leads to the cast wondering if perhaps something supernatural is at play. It’s a Whodunit, with a spice of the potential paranormal. Think old dark house, but with snow.

There are 43 different endings in this particular version of the game, however many of these endings are death related bad ends. For example, let’s say you are given three options when it comes time to confront a potential murderer: one of these options will probably lead you to confronting the wrong person and accidentally escalating the situation until you through your own actions or the actions of another ends up getting an innocent person killed resulting in a game over. The second choice then might result in you choosing the right person but messing up how you confront said person and being killed yourself. That’s two bad endings right there, and 41 more endings to go. The third choice then is the actual right choice to keep the story moving down its natural progression. A lot of the branches in the story can work like this example I just made up, but don’t be disheartened as you can always skip ahead after the game restarts and get right back to where you were and try again. Plus completing endings may unlock new dialogue choices given to you and can lead to endings you could not have seen otherwise at the start of the game.  

Despite the many death related bad endings out there to haunt you in your mystery solving there are plenty of other actual story progressing endings as well, and lots of different stories even to boot. Once you solve the main mystery and finally figure out the murderer and how they pulled off their killings, the game is not over yet. There are other stories that get told with the same basic setting and characters. Sometimes some character’s backgrounds and personalities change completely, other times some characters might be swapped out with new characters! This is especially true in a gag story you can unlock where the first victim who dies a particularly gruesome death is replaced by an overly flamboyant cross-dresser (or maybe it’s an anthropomorphic goat?) and hijinks ensue.

Yes, there also happens to be tons of comedy in this. Probably half the game is really hard edged and full of gruesome horror with crazy high death counts, while you white knuckle your way through it trying to find the bastard who did all this, if it’s even an human to being with, while the other half of the stories are gut busters that turn everything you know on its side and deconstruct horror tropes leaving you laughing the whole way through. Sometimes people are murdered horribly, sometimes you are caught up in a James Bound movie between a war of spies, and sometimes the game just goes absolutely nuts. There is honestly nothing quite like it, you can say Banshee’s Last Cry is an expert case of a video game that both terrifies and trolls its audience, and that’s the best part about it.

Out of all the crazy endings in the game I think my personal favorites have to be the one where you can decode a hidden message in the dialogue presented and learn that Chunsoft is behind a conspiracy to take over the world by brainwashing you and everyone else who plays their games, and the ending that pokes fun at Chunsoft’s other big series: The Mystery Dungeon games. If you ever played a Shiren the Wanderer, or the many, many, many other mystery dungeon flavored games such as Chocobo Dungeon, Etrain Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Barbie’s Dream Dungeon, or even Call of Dungeon Medieval Warfare, you’d get a real kick out of exploring the basement of the Inn and discovering it’s actually an RPG Dungeon that you can dungeon crawl through, fight classic fantasy monsters like Goblins in turn based combat, and try to find treasure chests. This game is just an absolute marvel that keeps giving in how it messes with your expectations.

And this is truly the most horrifying thing about Banshee’s Last Cry, there’s nothing quite like it out there in English, and it’s already about to fade away forever. Banshee’s Last Cry launched in January of 2014,  and since then has only had one update, about a week later after it came out and has never been updated since. This September (2017), Apple has launched their newest update: iOS 11 that moves their devices from 32-bit to 64-bit, in the process breaking a lot of past games and applications. A lot of developers have been prepping for this and have updated their products, but a lot of other apps have been left to wallow in oblivion (much like Shin Megami Tensei I -- another miracle of the mobile market now dying with iOS 11). Banshee’s Last Cry has not yet been updated and very likely never will be. This is another game lost to the harsh reality of a digital market place. If you’re thinking maybe the Android version can still be saved, well unfortunately even though Aksys Games advertised an Android version. one never materialized. The only way to play Kamaitachi no Yoru in English is to have an iPhone that hasn't yet converted to iOS 11, an update that is already a month old now at the time of this writing.

There may be hope in the future, as Spike Chunsoft has since shown some interest, a previous Twitter poll from last year over what games people may want to see localized saw “Kamaitachi no Yoru” (yes, not Banshee’s Last Cry) show up in it. While it did not win the poll there still might be a chance for it yet. Another sound novel in that poll, 428, lost as well but was announced for an English steam release. Perhaps if 428 can make it maybe Kamaitachi no Yoru can eventually too. There also happens to be a really nice and shiny new PS Vita remake to work off of for Kamaitachi no Yoru, that converted the game into a more traditional visual novel which will most likely have greater appeal to the English speaking market nowadays.

The future is hard to really tell, but such a fascinating and important game like Kamaitachi no Yoru deserves a better chance for an English audience to enjoy. It shouldn't be stuck on a dead platform that won’t work on modern phones and just the few YouTube Let’s Plays that are out there of it. I cannot think of anything more horrifying than the lost of game like this.

Fun Facts:

1.) Kamaitachi no Yoru was originally made using photographs of the real world location it was set in as the backgrounds. The developers added in some digital effects where they were needed such as pixelated snow moving across the screen and the silhouettes of characters talking. When the developers could not get a background they wanted in real life they created miniature models for them, such as the wine cellar. The Mobile version of the game again does the same thing, but interestingly the English localization Banshee’s Last Cry, retook a lot of the photographs of the Inn setting by using a real Inn you can actually visit in British-Columbia. While some of the interior shots are the same, some are quite different. The miniature models and digital effects seem to have all stayed the same though. You really have to appreciate such workmanship in keeping everything as real and practical as possible. Here are some comparisons of the Japanese and English Inn used:

Kamaitachi no Yoru iOS Comparison

2.) The music in Banshee’s Last Cry is just fantastic. I couldn’t really think of a spot to properly talk about it above but I really loved this particular version of the soundtrack. If you want to check it out you can should be able to find it on YouTube. I also uploaded the music to my Soundcloud as a back-up.

3.) While I didn't want to go to the monstrous task of hunting down EVERY version of Kamaitachi no Yoru I did at least take some comparison screenshots between the original Super Famicom version, the localized Banshee’s Last Cry iOS version, and 2017 Vita remake that turns the game into a visual novel. Check below:

Kamaitachi no Yoru - SuFami - iOS - PS Vita Comparison

[eggzy]

I’m honestly just dying to write somethingggg -- I’d really love a mumu?? maybe just two of us or throw in another person?? it could be anything from apartment wing, college roommates... maybe the truman show???? or something supernatural maybe???

under the cut are the characters/faces in the mumu I’d be interested in playing.

IVAN BISHOP | janis ancens | 22-26 years old

his family has had money for decades bc they’ve always managed to deal with corrupt government officials and whatnot. the bishop family make profit off war/violence bc they sell weapons!! they tend to sell to both sides of wars, even if in secret!! plus, they deal with monster/creature hunters!!! bishop is a name known around the world for many things.

um he’s a perfectionist. has to be the best at everything. everything. he was head boy in the private boarding school he attended, president of whatever fraternity that rich young men like him get into the kind with bad hazing and shit, was president of his university’s SGA, has perfect grades and a perfect record!!! he strives to be the best and ambition has taken him far. he doesn’t just rely on his family but the name does open A LOT of doors for him

he’s very stoic but can charm the pants off people!! but he’s very manipulative in this, can often get people to do what he wants. he once had his whole fraternity turn against this kid on campus who was running against him for SGA… he’s got a real cruel streak. hope you never see it. ://

he’s like ALLLLMOST greysexual but he still likes the act of sex from time to time. its hard to catch him with his guard down. doesn’t have a good relationship with either of his parents. mother cheats while away at one of their many beach condos. father is absent, busy with work && hunting. he’s good at gaslighting ivan so, as you can imagine, the boy has some real daddy issues.

he has younger brother and sister who are twins!! his mother is a BICTH!!! she is not nice. not pleasant in the slightest!! but she’s really really good at hunting! maybe a witch??? haven’t decided where I want that to go lol

MALLORY LEWIS | nicola peltz | 21-23 years old

so mal is an only child and her young parents were very excited to have a girl, especially her mother. she was pretty much a tiny doll in her mother’s eyes. she was an only child and the woman saw her daughter as something to dress up and parade around rather than really take care of. so, unsurprisingly, she’s been to a decent amount of pageants, a few Ws under her belt, in fact.

her parents got divorced when she was three! the highschool sweethearts didn’t last but five years! and so she was never really close with her father because her mother monopolized her time. she grew pretty resentful towards him as she got older because of their lack of time together and because he never really tried to see her or get her away from her mother. after a while, her father didn’t even try  to stay in touch. he helped a bit with expenses for a time but once he was remarried, there was no hearing from him.

mal was primarily raised by her mother who jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend and husband to husband!! when she was especially young, there were a lot of boundary lines that were blurred between her and her mother. she slept in bed with her until she was nine, she wouldn’t ever be far from her. her mother would get them matching outfits and she’d always do mal’s hair, make sure she was perfect, and she had to be exactly the way that her mother wanted her to be. no questions.

so being left alone with her mother and being groomed by her mother alone, she kind of became a mini version of her!! she didn’t care about anything other than getting what she wanted. men were tools. they were just bank accounts and pretty things to surround herself with. if she wanted it, she could get it – she knew what her appearance did to others, men especially. ever so manipulative, she has her own harem of men, ages all varying from twenties to sixties, that she spends her time with. she’s easily a homewrecker to a handful of relationships out there.

she relies on some of her daddies forreal though because between them and hustling, she can only resort to criminal acts to support herself!

the monsters she seen all her life!! she used to be very vocal about it but her mom put her in a institution one summer when she was 13 which really traumatized her so she does NOT talk about the shit she sees! NOT CRAZY!!

“GK” STARR | madison mclaughlin | 19-23 years old

my baby is like the human form of peach tea. is that weird to say? gk is a super sweetheart and most people genuinely like her when they meet her. she makes it easy, bc she’s bit of a pushover and people-pleaser so she gets walked on a lot. still learning how to stand up for herself!!

she’s an art freak. loves oil painting the most as that’s the one she’s more experienced with. learning how to use water colors and gouache just as well. wants to be graphic designer one day!!

with a short and small stature, most underestimate her, if not all who cencounter her. she is no impressive figure, by any means, so her goal of becoming a superhero seems farfetched to many. with the appearance of such fragility, gk attracts those who wish to protect without meaning to, often due to her size. her skin is very tanned with a decently clear complexion as she still struggles with acne and such. freckles are scattered across the bridge of her nose and over the tips of her shoulders. A dark mole is one of her most striking features, location just under her right eye. 

gk is very friendly and very loud. so basically, one of those people who just makes themselves known, no matter the room they enter into. very much a people-person, loves to be in the company of anyone, even strangers. she’s extremely naive, so constantly people are using her for her powers, abusing her kindness and willingness to help. questions are constantly on her tongue, because she doesn’t know about anything and is so very curious! she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for sure – but she’ll never know unless you tell her upfront, she’s a bit oblivious at times.

gk stands for georgia katherine, so as you can imagine she’s pretty southern. her accent is thick like molasses!! her family moved here from louisiana about five years ago. it had been a tough move and she struggled for a bit, bc people aren’t always kind and the starrs aren’t necessarily well off. they’re barely pushing by, one might say.

TRENTON LEROY | chris wood | 20-25 years old

tw: child abuse, violence, mental illness

so like!! trenton is from lyon, france! he has a SLIGHT accent but its not strong anymore because he hasn’t been back to france in like ten years.

his mother and father are not married. he was born out of wedlock because his mother was his father’s mistress. the man left after the idea of trenton was even mentioned. he was a married man with hands in politics, he couldn’t afford to have this out.

so labeaux family paid off the leroy family, sending money every month to keep them quiet.

the leroy family is kind of a TRASHY family living in the countryside near lyon. it was just trenton, his mother, grandmother and uncle. a small family that lived on the checks sent by a man worlds away.

he adored his mother more than any person!! like almost an obsession!! but thats because out of that house, she was the only one to ever show him kindness. his grandmother and uncle both were quite unkind to him, blaming him for their misfortunes and taking out their stress. unfortunately, his mother left the family and ran off with a boyfriend. trenton was only seven at the time but the sense of loneliness and abandonment following her departure REALLY affected him in ways that weren’t good. and the abuse he took from other family members only pushed him further.

his father took an interest back into his life at age twelve, realizing that the boy was his only current heir. he quickly took the boy from that house and placed him into a boarding school in england to learn everything from ENGLISH itself to business and other ways of the world.

the setting wasn’t much better tbh!! he was mistreated by older kids for a while, bullied for a variety of things until he finally shot up between age 15 & 16. he really grew into his awkward limbs, a charming face to match!! it was a surprise to everyone that the awkward boy had transformed into that. trenton started to get attention he had never received before. and it delighted him. but he didn’t know how to handle it.

he began abusing his friends, girlfriends… anyone who was close to him. violence was the ONLY language he would ever be fluent in – his family made sure of that.

when he graduated, he was a shadow of the boy he once was. dark and twisted with desires that no good person should have. but still he passed it off like a charm, being the perfect son that his father had never wanted.

trenton was moved to highland springs and he lived there with his just father for a few years, learning the ways of the family business and politics.

but eventually everything got to him and he SNAPPED. the incident had him sent away once more but this time to a mental institution on the west coast. he was heavily guarded secret so no one really knew where he disappeared to. his father only claimed traveling the world.

FOX KINSLEY | matt hitt | 19-22 years old

ALCOHOLISM TW, DRUGS TW

okay so this is atticus fawkes kinsley!! he goes by fox because he hates those names and he’s bitter af towards his family right now.

his dad lost his dream job when fox was about ten or so and he took to the bottle and stayed with it. he wasn’t abusive or anything, just yelled sometimes. Mostly laid around the house, sulking. he’s attempted other jobs, but it always ends up with him fired because of a DUI or something. so that’s where fox got most of his lazy traits from

his mom is this SUPER ambitious woman who’s really great honestly but she really cares about how people view her. so witnessing her husband in the state he was in really embarrassed her?? that destroyed their relationship. she thinks pretty lowly of the man. they fought A LOT. after the man’s fourth DUI in two years, she left.

she tried to convince fox to come with her, but he refused. he didn’t like the idea of abandoning his father. they used to be really close once. :’) so she left seventeen year old fox as well and took his sister to live with her parents for a while.

fox and his father did okay for a year or so. it was a bit rough because he had to get a shitty job with shitty hours to handle the bills and stuff. because good ole dad was still just doing his thing, drinking himself silly and sleeping at the oddest hours. fox had to leave on his last year of high school, which at the time didn’t bother him. but now, he’s starting to regret that more and more.

he’s a stoner through and through. mostly just sticks to weed. he’s really sloping down that path towards harder drugs though so he wears long sleeves occasionally to cover track marks.

things started to get really shitty one late saturday night when he returned after a double at work to find the house empty. only a note from his father, detailing that he needed to find himself and work out his problems on his own, was left. it fucked him up.

the loneliness and desperation he’ll never forget. it’s been carved into his bones and burned into his skin. he’ll never forget that pain. and because of that, he’s very very bitter. he’s been going out and partying doing every drug you can imagine. trying to destroy himself for the past year. sick, unhealthy living.

he’s still working at the gas station, still manning the slushie machines even if he has no one to go home to. no one to teach him how to be an adult in the real world.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR:

maybe like more family members? mother/father... sister/brother??? rival family?? maybe some kind of sentient monster???? or like friends of either mal or ivan??

platonic to romantic relationships!

a partner that can put up with me and my work/lazy schedule! I’ve been dying to write and rps are just dwindling around here so they’re just not gonna cut it... but I’m determined to have this plot because I NEEEED the creative outlet.

[eggzy]

I’m honestly just dying to write somethingggg -- I’d really love a mumu?? maybe just two of us or throw in another person?? it could be anything from apartment wing, college roommates... maybe the truman show???? or something supernatural maybe???

under the cut are the characters/faces in the mumu I’d be interested in playing.

IVAN BISHOP | janis ancens | 22-26 years old

his family has had money for decades bc they’ve always managed to deal with corrupt government officials and whatnot. the bishop family make profit off war/violence bc they sell weapons!! they tend to sell to both sides of wars, even if in secret!! plus, they deal with monster/creature hunters!!! bishop is a name known around the world for many things.

um he’s a perfectionist. has to be the best at everything. everything. he was head boy in the private boarding school he attended, president of whatever fraternity that rich young men like him get into the kind with bad hazing and shit, was president of his university’s SGA, has perfect grades and a perfect record!!! he strives to be the best and ambition has taken him far. he doesn’t just rely on his family but the name does open A LOT of doors for him

he’s very stoic but can charm the pants off people!! but he’s very manipulative in this, can often get people to do what he wants. he once had his whole fraternity turn against this kid on campus who was running against him for SGA… he’s got a real cruel streak. hope you never see it. ://

he’s like ALLLLMOST greysexual but he still likes the act of sex from time to time. its hard to catch him with his guard down. doesn’t have a good relationship with either of his parents. mother cheats while away at one of their many beach condos. father is absent, busy with work && hunting. he’s good at gaslighting ivan so, as you can imagine, the boy has some real daddy issues.

he has younger brother and sister who are twins!! his mother is a BICTH!!! she is not nice. not pleasant in the slightest!! but she’s really really good at hunting! maybe a witch??? haven’t decided where I want that to go lol

MALLORY LEWIS | nicola peltz | 21-23 years old

so mal is an only child and her young parents were very excited to have a girl, especially her mother. she was pretty much a tiny doll in her mother’s eyes. she was an only child and the woman saw her daughter as something to dress up and parade around rather than really take care of. so, unsurprisingly, she’s been to a decent amount of pageants, a few Ws under her belt, in fact.

her parents got divorced when she was three! the highschool sweethearts didn’t last but five years! and so she was never really close with her father because her mother monopolized her time. she grew pretty resentful towards him as she got older because of their lack of time together and because he never really tried to see her or get her away from her mother. after a while, her father didn’t even try  to stay in touch. he helped a bit with expenses for a time but once he was remarried, there was no hearing from him.

mal was primarily raised by her mother who jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend and husband to husband!! when she was especially young, there were a lot of boundary lines that were blurred between her and her mother. she slept in bed with her until she was nine, she wouldn’t ever be far from her. her mother would get them matching outfits and she’d always do mal’s hair, make sure she was perfect, and she had to be exactly the way that her mother wanted her to be. no questions.

so being left alone with her mother and being groomed by her mother alone, she kind of became a mini version of her!! she didn’t care about anything other than getting what she wanted. men were tools. they were just bank accounts and pretty things to surround herself with. if she wanted it, she could get it – she knew what her appearance did to others, men especially. ever so manipulative, she has her own harem of men, ages all varying from twenties to sixties, that she spends her time with. she’s easily a homewrecker to a handful of relationships out there.

she relies on some of her daddies forreal though because between them and hustling, she can only resort to criminal acts to support herself!

the monsters she seen all her life!! she used to be very vocal about it but her mom put her in a institution one summer when she was 13 which really traumatized her so she does NOT talk about the shit she sees! NOT CRAZY!!

“GK” STARR | madison mclaughlin | 19-23 years old

my baby is like the human form of peach tea. is that weird to say? gk is a super sweetheart and most people genuinely like her when they meet her. she makes it easy, bc she’s bit of a pushover and people-pleaser so she gets walked on a lot. still learning how to stand up for herself!!

she’s an art freak. loves oil painting the most as that’s the one she’s more experienced with. learning how to use water colors and gouache just as well. wants to be graphic designer one day!!

with a short and small stature, most underestimate her, if not all who cencounter her. she is no impressive figure, by any means, so her goal of becoming a superhero seems farfetched to many. with the appearance of such fragility, gk attracts those who wish to protect without meaning to, often due to her size. her skin is very tanned with a decently clear complexion as she still struggles with acne and such. freckles are scattered across the bridge of her nose and over the tips of her shoulders. A dark mole is one of her most striking features, location just under her right eye.

gk is very friendly and very loud. so basically, one of those people who just makes themselves known, no matter the room they enter into. very much a people-person, loves to be in the company of anyone, even strangers. she’s extremely naive, so constantly people are using her for her powers, abusing her kindness and willingness to help. questions are constantly on her tongue, because she doesn’t know about anything and is so very curious! she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for sure – but she’ll never know unless you tell her upfront, she’s a bit oblivious at times.

gk stands for georgia katherine, so as you can imagine she’s pretty southern. her accent is thick like molasses!! her family moved here from louisiana about five years ago. it had been a tough move and she struggled for a bit, bc people aren’t always kind and the starrs aren’t necessarily well off. they’re barely pushing by, one might say.

TRENTON LEROY | chris wood | 20-25 years old

tw: child abuse, violence, mental illness

so like!! trenton is from lyon, france! he has a SLIGHT accent but its not strong anymore because he hasn’t been back to france in like ten years.

his mother and father are not married. he was born out of wedlock because his mother was his father’s mistress. the man left after the idea of trenton was even mentioned. he was a married man with hands in politics, he couldn’t afford to have this out.

so labeaux family paid off the leroy family, sending money every month to keep them quiet.

the leroy family is kind of a TRASHY family living in the countryside near lyon. it was just trenton, his mother, grandmother and uncle. a small family that lived on the checks sent by a man worlds away.

he adored his mother more than any person!! like almost an obsession!! but thats because out of that house, she was the only one to ever show him kindness. his grandmother and uncle both were quite unkind to him, blaming him for their misfortunes and taking out their stress. unfortunately, his mother left the family and ran off with a boyfriend. trenton was only seven at the time but the sense of loneliness and abandonment following her departure REALLY affected him in ways that weren’t good. and the abuse he took from other family members only pushed him further.

his father took an interest back into his life at age twelve, realizing that the boy was his only current heir. he quickly took the boy from that house and placed him into a boarding school in england to learn everything from ENGLISH itself to business and other ways of the world.

the setting wasn’t much better tbh!! he was mistreated by older kids for a while, bullied for a variety of things until he finally shot up between age 15 & 16. he really grew into his awkward limbs, a charming face to match!! it was a surprise to everyone that the awkward boy had transformed into that. trenton started to get attention he had never received before. and it delighted him. but he didn’t know how to handle it.

he began abusing his friends, girlfriends… anyone who was close to him. violence was the ONLY language he would ever be fluent in – his family made sure of that.

when he graduated, he was a shadow of the boy he once was. dark and twisted with desires that no good person should have. but still he passed it off like a charm, being the perfect son that his father had never wanted.

trenton was moved to highland springs and he lived there with his just father for a few years, learning the ways of the family business and politics.

but eventually everything got to him and he SNAPPED. the incident had him sent away once more but this time to a mental institution on the west coast. he was heavily guarded secret so no one really knew where he disappeared to. his father only claimed traveling the world.

FOX KINSLEY | matt hitt | 19-22 years old

ALCOHOLISM TW, DRUGS TW

okay so this is atticus fawkes kinsley!! he goes by fox because he hates those names and he’s bitter af towards his family right now.

his dad lost his dream job when fox was about ten or so and he took to the bottle and stayed with it. he wasn’t abusive or anything, just yelled sometimes. Mostly laid around the house, sulking. he’s attempted other jobs, but it always ends up with him fired because of a DUI or something. so that’s where fox got most of his lazy traits from

his mom is this SUPER ambitious woman who’s really great honestly but she really cares about how people view her. so witnessing her husband in the state he was in really embarrassed her?? that destroyed their relationship. she thinks pretty lowly of the man. they fought A LOT. after the man’s fourth DUI in two years, she left.

she tried to convince fox to come with her, but he refused. he didn’t like the idea of abandoning his father. they used to be really close once. :’) so she left seventeen year old fox as well and took his sister to live with her parents for a while.

fox and his father did okay for a year or so. it was a bit rough because he had to get a shitty job with shitty hours to handle the bills and stuff. because good ole dad was still just doing his thing, drinking himself silly and sleeping at the oddest hours. fox had to leave on his last year of high school, which at the time didn’t bother him. but now, he’s starting to regret that more and more.

he’s a stoner through and through. mostly just sticks to weed. he’s really sloping down that path towards harder drugs though so he wears long sleeves occasionally to cover track marks.

things started to get really shitty one late saturday night when he returned after a double at work to find the house empty. only a note from his father, detailing that he needed to find himself and work out his problems on his own, was left. it fucked him up.

the loneliness and desperation he’ll never forget. it’s been carved into his bones and burned into his skin. he’ll never forget that pain. and because of that, he’s very very bitter. he’s been going out and partying doing every drug you can imagine. trying to destroy himself for the past year. sick, unhealthy living.

he’s still working at the gas station, still manning the slushie machines even if he has no one to go home to. no one to teach him how to be an adult in the real world.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR:

maybe like more family members? mother/father... sister/brother??? rival family?? maybe some kind of sentient monster???? or like friends of either mal or ivan??

platonic to romantic relationships!

a partner that can put up with me and my work/lazy schedule! I’ve been dying to write and rps are just dwindling around here so they’re just not gonna cut it... but I’m determined to have this plot because I NEEEED the creative outlet.