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application ( rosenblum hall )
Player Name: Anne
Player Age: 34
Contact: My main plurk is
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purplehazeweedback but I'm on plurk more oftenReserve Link: here
How into horror are you?: One million percent. Please give me as much ghosty stuff as possible, genuinely. I want Anthy to be NERVOUS AS HECK.
OOC Hard Nos: Rape and sexual assault as a plot device is a hard no; rape and sexual assault as part of a character's history handled in a reasonable way needs a warning. I figure y'all know what I mean by that, but if there's any confusion, just let me know. I don't want to be heavily enmeshed in a story involving disordered eating or alcohol abuse right now, but if it comes up with a warning, that's fine. Otherwise, if it's not touched on in the Fears & Insecurities section below, just fuck me up.
Character Name: Anthy Himemiya
Character Age: 14
Canon Summary: here!
AU History:
A Note On AU Differences: Because Anthy's canonical history and RGU in general is based strongly in fairy-tale tropes and magical realism, very little of it is actually applicable here. Anthy in canon is less a girl and more a Thing, a Concept, a Representation . . . but also a girl . . . but also not. As a result, her AU history is pretty much reverse engineering to create the kind of environment that would create an Anthy, drawing from significant canon events where I'm able. Point being, it would be really inefficient for me to point out where there are differences between canon and AU histories because that's most of it. Instead, I'll do my best to point out areas of similarity, although almost nothing is exactly the same. Hope that works!
cw: child sexual abuse + incest, grooming, emotional abuse + manipulation, suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation
Anthy's grandfather is the one who originally developed the Ohtori Method of schooling, and although he died before she was born, his presence has shaped everything about her life up until her banishment to Burnbriar. The Ohtori family's patriarchal dynasty of avant-garde education was taken up by her father and ultimately her older brother, with neither her grandmother nor mother seeming to actively participate. The Ohtori philosophy was based on the concept of immersion in arts, sports, music, poetry, and philosophy on equal if not greater footing as more typical academic pursuits — an arts school emphasized by immersive and thought-provoking architecture and landscaping as well as mandatory focus retreats, recitations, and intensive one-on-one mentorships with instructors.
The dubious legacy of the Ohtori Method has tailed Anthy since she was capable of critical thinking. Not only are there very legitimate criticisms of the school due to its faulty academic methodology, there have been a number of allegations of poor conditions, limited supervision and accountability, and inappropriate conduct in the deliberately-isolated boarding schools. The toxicity of Ohtori schools springs naturally from a family with terrible boundaries and a history of inappropriate familial relationships, down to Akio, Anthy's older brother, sexually abusing her.
Once upon a time, she and Akio were close. In fact, for a long time, Akio was the timid one of the two of them, unlikely to stand up for himself. Anthy often defended him, even though he was older and in theory it should have been the opposite. He was sensitive and giving, and she was afraid, even though she didn't know what she was afraid of at the time — too young to even begin to articulate it. Really, she was afraid that her family and the Ohtori Method would break him. And ultimately, they did. After being sent away to school himself, Akio came back harder, darker, and with an unbreakable wall between them.
Although she once showed a genuine aptitude for leadership, going so far as to pursue fencing professionally in her elementary years, this dimmed until she fully gave up on trying to stand out or succeed once Akio had fully focused his attention on her. This only got worse after he was demoted from a temporary position in the C-suite of the family company to being the principal of Anthy's school due to poor performance and began to, quite simply, take it out on Anthy, not only by escalating his abuse of her but by making her the most hated girl on campus. He went on a subtle but concentrated smear campaign, spreading rumors about her character and behavior as typical as her being promiscuous and as outlandish as her being a genuine witch. The rumors led to her ostracization and bullying; she was even physically attacked a few times. Any student who treated her poorly would, coincidentally, be rewarded in some way by the administration. She essentially became the school's punching bag, just so Akio could be as miserable as she was. Leaving her beloved fencing behind, she hid in her dorm, cleaned, and threw herself into researching witchcraft for something to keep her mind occupied. Every once in a while she tried to connect with one of her peers, but any seeming kindness ultimately turned out to be an excuse for another student to take their anger and frustration out on her just like Akio had.
She lived like this for two years until, at age 14, a student named Utena Tenjou transferred to her school and changed everything. Utena didn't understand why everyone was treating Anthy so poorly and had no desire to conform to this standard. She became very protective of Anthy and gradually tried to make her understand that she didn't owe anything in return — that she wanted, genuinely, to be friends with no strings attached. This was as thrilling as it was terrifying to Anthy, as were the romantic feelings she started to feel for this inexplicably kind pink jock. With Utena by her side, she rejoined the fencing club and began to assert herself again. Slowly but surely, they became a force to be reckoned with, Utena a bright force with Anthy quickly catching up as she remembered how important fencing had once been to her.
Then Akio found out. Utena's relationship with Anthy and her growing autonomy were a massive threat to him, and he did his level best to break it down. At the same time as he began to groom Utena, he sowed seeds of doubt in Anthy, reinforcing the importance of loyalty to their family, the Ohtori Method, and himself. He told her how much he needed her support if he was to succeed and outdo their father and grandfather as the head of the company, how Utena was obviously trying to undermine them from the inside out, how she was probably a spy from a rival or journalist trying to gather lies to tell the media and ruin them, how she would never understand Anthy, how no one would ever understand and everyone would always hate her and find her disgusting and he was the only one who would ever really be there for her.
Ultimately, it was all too much for Anthy to cope with after years of abuse and isolation. She tried to kill herself one night to keep from harming Utena, but Utena found and rescued her. She yelled at Anthy, upset and scared, and Anthy had no idea how to respond because it seemed impossible to tell any part of the truth to someone who had been so kind to her. She shut down. At a friendly match in front of the whole school, she stabbed Utena in the back, sending her to the hospital in critical condition. She didn't die, but she wouldn't be able to return to school for a long time — and neither could Anthy. In fact, Akio had all the excuse he needed to send Anthy as far away as possible, somewhere he could control her from a distance with shame and isolation, but she wouldn't be a threat to his place in the company. So . . . he sent her to Burnbriar.
>>>Here’s the big fun one! Give me all the sweet deets on your character’s upbringing, either in a bullet point list or paragraphs. The more juicy deets you give me, the more the hauntings have to work with! Consider things like their upbringing, interests, major events… give ‘em here! However, please note any major differences between canon history and your character’s, with italics or asterisks or… something. I’m flexible. Also, this is your place to detail the things you don’t want to detail directly to other players.
A couple reminders, though these are also in the AU Workshop! Please be sparing with incorporating characters from your character’s canon into the school itself to keep things open for everyone, and make sure to get direct confirmation from your fellow players before forming connections with them! If you haven’t both explicitly agreed, it ain’t canon.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
⚔ Manipulative; Anthy's relationship to manipulating and being manipulated is complicated, as she's just as susceptible to it as she is good at it. However, she's always manipulating others, and she's very good at discerning the best way to target an individual's personal vulnerabilities. She's also more than willing to put herself in harm's way for the sake of a more believable story. That said, she's a lot more comfortable pulling out the big guns when she's in a familiar environment.
⚔ Clever; Anthy is very smart. Academically, she'd be in the top quarter of her class if participating in any non-solo learning didn't make her so damn nervous. More than that, though, she has excellent interpersonal intelligence and a powerful understanding of what makes people tick — again, especially in environments she's familiar with, and the culture shock of moving to Burnbriar has destabilized this somewhat. Also worth noting that interpersonal intelligence does not equal any level of self-insight or self-awareness.
⚔ Deceptive; Anthy is a great liar. She's able to almost completely control her expression and body language, only betraying what she wants to betray. This is heavily influenced by her upbringing and what was expected of her as an Ohtori scion, but it's also been heavily influenced by the trauma she experienced in middle school. Being visibly vulnerable is dangerous; much safer to conceal anything that might make you a target.
⚔ Treacherous; With the potential to turn on anyone who threatens what she knows, Anthy has great capacity for betrayal and for violence. She wasn't even entirely aware of this herself until pretty recently, as her spontaneous, violent attack on Utena burst more or less out of nowhere. Fear and anger are powerful motivators for a good heel-face turn, and her deceptive nature and ability to conceal her true intentions just make her all the more dangerous.
⚔ Cruel/callous; Anthy has very little pity for the suffering of others, especially those who deserve what they get, in her opinion. She sees — and assumes — the worst of people, and as a result dishes out the nastiest hand she can when she has the opportunity to. Her weapons are usually emotional, playing on people's pride and vulnerabilities with precision nastiness, but she's learned she has the capacity to be more hands-on in her cruelty and vengeance.
⚔ Self-sacrificing; For those she truly cares about, Anthy is willing to give her all — literally. This is actually not a positive thing: she does it without any regard for her own well-being and very much to her own detriment. The people she cares about must be taken care of at any cost, even her total destruction — so of course she's willing to destroy herself for them. This was part of her motivation for attempting suicide when Utena stopped her: she was afraid of what she would do and saw removing herself from the equation as the only way to protect her friend.
⚔ Self-loathing; Anthy hates and is disgusted by herself, simple as that. There are a lot of reasons for this, but ultimately, the way she was raised and the abuse she's experienced have sent her continuous messages that she's deeply flawed, not good enough, and unlovable. Her behavior, which is often off-putting as a result of her self-loathing, can lead to further isolation, which just exacerbates her negative self-image.
⚔ Kind to the vulnerable; Anthy is incredibly sweet and gentle with animals, especially those that are injured or abandoned. It's a trait that she doesn't feel she has to hide because it's acceptably feminine, but it's also the only genuine sort of care that she's completely comfortable expressing out in the open without any sort of deception. She feels safe expressing her empathy and love towards animals in a way she doesn't towards humans, who she perceives as having preconceived notions that she's already failing even before she begins.
⚔ Emotionally numb; Anthy struggles to stay emotionally connected to the world around her. This is in part a coping strategy and in part the result of being given so much "you're doing it wrong" messaging that she second-guesses every emotion she has. The fewer strong emotions she has, the less she reacts, the less she'll mess up, the less she'll face backlash and rejection. At this point in her life, it's automatic rather than deliberate and something she would have to actively work to stop doing.
⚔ Struggles with connection to others; It's incredibly difficult for Anthy to connect genuinely with others. She's used to the weird twisty-turny emotional games and expectations of her family and the treachery of the Ohtori school, so she plays the game expecting 1) that it is a game, 2) that there are a lot of complicated rules, 3) that most of the rules won't be told to her, 4) that there are trapdoors, and 5) that it's rigged so everyone loses. It's also hard for her to recognize her own positive feelings towards others as genuine simply because she's so out of touch with her feelings.
⚔ Empathetic; Shockingly, despite how frozen her own feelings can be, Anthy feels empathy very deeply. Again, this is easier with animals than people, but empathy for those who are genuinely trying to befriend her is very achievable. She's capable of recognizing when people are going out of their way for her and is uniquely touched by protectiveness, something she has very little experience being directed at her. But most of all, if someone she's fond of is suffering, it hits her in a way that feels much more real than other positive emotions do.
Greatest Fears/Insecurities:
Greatest Fears & InsecuritiesSample: TDM sample
⚔ Patriarchy/misogyny; This is broad as fuck, but I can't play from RGU without incorporating themes of toxic masculinity, they'll take away my card. Anthy doesn't know this is an insecurity of hers, but she has been brought up in an extremely male-dominated, patriarchal family and by extension business structure that has shaped her worldview and self-image for the worse. Many of her negative behaviors were either presented to her as positive traits for a girl to possess (ie pathological submissiveness) or were borne of a need to support to men around her (ie her deceptive nature and instinct to undermine other girls for her brother's benefit). The idea of stepping outside these confines is basically incomprehensible to Anthy in the same way that launching oneself into space is incomprehensible to the average person: she knows, theoretically and in some distant way, that it's possible, but it's so bafflingly huge and unknown that it can't be comprehended.
⚔ Self-doubt, self-loathing, and self-harm; Overall, Anthy does not like or trust herself, to the point that if you placed her in front of a doppelganger of herself she would waste zero time taking that thing out. She's internalized all the awful things she learned from her family as well as the incessant rumors her brother spread about her at school and can ascribe pretty almost any flaw to herself. She doesn't believe she deserves anything good. It's less an insecurity and more a certainty that she deserves all the misery that gravitates towards her. This also extends to anyone or anything that acts like she does or reminds her of herself. She'll victim-blame any motherfucker that's Anthyish enough.
⚔ Doubt that others care about her → paranoia; Pretty simple — relating to the last one, her immensely poor self-perception makes her struggle to understand why anyone would care about her and second-guess anyone who claims to or acts like they do. Even the smallest kind action, Anthy perceives as having an ulterior motive.
⚔ Violent urges and homicidal ideation; When pushed to the edge, Anthy lashes out like a wild animal — something she's only recently learned, because until recently, she had never quite been pushed far enough. Her attack on Utena came with a rush of violent hatred and desire to destroy that she had never felt before, and she's terrified of it, what it means about her, and the possibility of it coming back.
⚔ Fear of destroying those she loves; See above :^)
⚔ Guilt and shame; Anthy feels bad, like something is wrong with her on a deep and pervasive level. This has been the case for a while, but it feels much more real now that she's actively harmed someone who cared about her. Before, it was something she was resigned to. Now, it actively haunts her.
⚔ Envy and wrath; Although she acts like nothing much touches her, Anthy feels very deeply, especially the negative emotions she's most closely connected to. She's deeply jealous of those who have connections she doesn't and has bottomless energy to cook up just (and ironic) desserts. She can become obsessive when it comes to both of these emotions, although wrath is really her specialty.
⚔ Being stuck; Anthy fears never being able to escape her reality of being hated — but also, she's scared of what happens if/when she does escape. Being loathed was such a central part of her life in isolation that the hints of inclusion and acceptance she's had in her brief time at Burnbriar have been very destabilizing. At the same time she craves feeling accepted, she can't conceptualize those around her seeing her as anything but an object of disgust, hatred, and ridicule.
⚔ Not being "real"; Anthy doesn't feel entirely like a real girl, or at least like a "correct" girl. She's been told, implicitly and explicitly, that there's something abnormal about her; even her interest in nontraditionally feminine habits like fencing was othered, used as evidence that she didn't act the way a proper young woman should, and the brief connections she's made with other girls have been dismissed and cut off for not meeting some undefinable standard. This pushes her to a place where she acts almost doll-like at times, like a preprogrammed, nonsentient object, trying to obey programming that isn't her own. This leads her to act in a way that's frankly uncanny at times, which exacerbates the sense of otherness and increases her difficulty in making genuine connections with others. The fact that the genuine connection she was beginning to build with Utena was weaponized against both of them has only increased this particular insecurity. She deals with derealization and depersonalization with some regularity as well.
⚔ Fear of being unlovable; For basically all of the above reasons, Anthy sees herself as unlovable.
⚔ Fear of being alone; Possibly her greatest fear — Anthy cannot stand the idea of being isolated because, despite their age difference, she and Akio were genuinely close once. She can't remember a time when Akio wasn't there, and once upon a time, he was kind and understanding towards her, even protective. Even though he's become cruel, manipulative, and abusive, the idea of being all by herself is even greater than the idea of being stuck with someone who hurts her for the rest of eternity.
⚔ Betrayal; This one's buried deep because she hasn't quite realized yet how thoroughly Akio has betrayed her. Some part of her knows, but she can't face it. It still feels like her fault. Sometime soon, though, that egg is gonna crack open.
⚔ Blame; Okay, but like, Utena showing up and telling Anthy she hates her would ruin her life unironically
Motives
Beyond the above, some ideas: although she's not quite aware of it yet, Anthy's extremely protective of her life at Burnbriar already. Even though she basically just arrived, it's a significantly safer space than she ever had at home, and she's relishing the relative honesty of the other students in contrast to the strange and mercurial environment of an Ohtori school. So anything that threatens her ability to stay at Burnbriar or threatens her standing/reputation (such as it is) would be powerful motives for her. Widespread knowledge about what she did to Utena is pretty much her nightmare. Anything that plays to her desire to punish herself or people who remind her of herself would also work well if presented the right way.
Focus
So! I really don't want Anthy to be the CSA Bomb That Everyone Has To Deal With. I know she's not the only character who comes with these heavy sort of warnings, but because her dysfunctional relationship with Akio is still a significant part of her AU history, I want to be extra clear that that is not what I want to focus on most. What I'd really like to focus on with Anthy is conformity vs. agency, sticking with what's familiar and horrible vs. striking out towards something terrifyingly unknown. Burnbriar is, for Anthy, a consequence that might be an opportunity. I want to play with what she does or doesn't make from that potential opportunity — whether she breaks out of the repetitive cycle of subservience and violence that her family lives in and becomes her own kind of "real girl" or succumbs to her own fear and self-loathing. The nature of relationships is big for her, too, and I'm a lot more interested in exploring what makes a relationship healthy or safe, even if imperfect, versus unhealthy and toxic than I am in dissecting how shitty Akio is.
I hope that makes sense! I am happy to field any follow-up or clarifying questions.
Case Involvement: RNG! And slight preference for murderer, but also like I've never murdergamed before so who knows, put me Somewhere, anything is great.
Anything Else:
no subject