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Jan. 11th, 2013 02:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
belpheOOC:
Name: Katie
Are you over 16?: Yes
Personal DW: don't have one
Email: driprat at com cast dot net
Timezone: Pacific
Other contact: plurk @ gaga_san or kanatta on AIM
Characters already in the game: N/A
How did you find us?: recommended by a friend
IC:
Character name: Belphegor of Sloth
Fandom: Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
Timeline: canonwise, she was pulled from Episode 21 of the anime series, just after she and her sisters were denied and shattered by their young master, Ange-Beatrice, for failing to carry out an impossible order. I would be bringing her in with knowledge from two prior games - Route 29 and Demeleier
Age: Appears about 17, is nearly a thousand years old
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: In her human form, Belphe has the ability to teleport, and levitate on the air as if it were water. She can phase through walls, and summon/dismiss a blade of concentrated blue light that appears over her right forearm for hand-to-hand combat. In her "true" form, she's a sentient steel stake that can maneuver through the air at deadly velocity to pierce its target.
How would they use their abilities?: Aside from teleporting for fast-travel, Belphe generally does not use her powers to antagonize unless she is in the possession of a master who would order her to do so. She may employ them to defend herself or those close to her if confronted, though.
Appearance: images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111112015428/umineko/images/thumb/8/82/Stakes_Belphegor2.png/1000px-Stakes_Belphegor2.png While all of the sisters of purgatory are of similar make in their foundation, when placed side-by-side with her siblings, it might become apparent very quickly that Belphegor is the reserved middle child. She stands an average 5'5 with long, grey-brown hair tied back in a simple horsetail and a healthy complexion (not tanned, but not pale either). Her most striking feature, aside from the complex and bizarre uniform that is the trademark of the Seven Stakes, are her red eyes that clearly mark her as something that isn't human. While her body is well-toned, allowing her to be flexible and not easily tire, her bust and thighs suggest that her creator felt it important to place special emphasis on her feminine traits.
Background/Personality: To begin, let me explain the concept of "furniture" in the Umineko canon as it will make understanding the rest of this section much easier. While a servant remains their own individual, lending their services to the one who hired them, furniture has surrendered itself down to its very soul as its master's property. Furniture does not desire things like love, respect, or dignity, finding fulfillment instead in being useful to their owner in any way they are needed. As these are obviously not human traits, most furniture in the Umineko canon is not human and has a warped sense of self, identifying as objects rather than as people. Most are summoned into being by particularly powerful witches and wizards, their former occupation on whatever plane they came from laid aside (ie - Beatrice's personal butler, Ronove, is boasted to be a high-standing earl of hell...which means exactly nothing in his current line of work).
Furniture that learns to love, and experiences the heartache and despair that comes along with it, is said to have become human. While they may retain the extraordinary powers imbued within them, they are far more sensitive than they were before. While it may make the world seem more beautiful and vibrant, it also puts them at the extreme disadvantage of presenting an easily-exploited weakness. The object of their affection may become the focus of torture, brutal killing, or whatever other unpleasantness their master sees fit to inflict to torment both them and their lover. While it's not unheard of for an especially-benevolent master to recognize and honor their furniture's love, granting them their blessing and recognition of becoming human, it is such an unlikely occurrence that it is, rightly, deemed a nigh-impossible happening. Furniture, therefore, sees becoming human as a lowly aspiration and wall themselves off from giving or receiving affection.
PERSONALITY --
As Sloth, one would expect Belphegor to live up to her title by being the epitome of laziness. However, such assumptions couldn't be further from the truth. While her sister stakes have their patron vices made readily available to them to indulge in, the conditions for sloth most usually must be arranged. Belphe is, therefore, a hard worker, placing the needs, troubles, and desires of those around her on her own shoulders so that they will have little to do except sit back and let her take care of everything for them.
Why should that character be in this game: Not an OC so does not apply
Why do you want to continue their history here: Belphe's passed through some pretty aggressive and ominous universes the last couple of years and spent most of her time constantly on her guard to protect her master(s), sisters, and newly-made friends. Having been granted backhanded permission to become a human in her last game recently, I feel putting her in an environment where she can explore what it is to live as one without things becoming completely mundane would be refreshing for both mun and player. The idea that she will be afforded the chance to experience some amazingly improbable probabilities without having to leave to other universes to find them would be something she would find, in particular, of interest. (also I may be joined by a friend who has accompanied me through the same games this last while)
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play: N/A
Have you read up on how the game works?: The guide plugin is called FlamingFerret. Characters acquire money by taking missions, stealing/mooching, or going into business
1st person sample: [Hello, residents, are you having a good day so far? Well, it appears someone isn't. The video feed has been jostled on unwittingly by what looks to be a very put-out stake attempting to free her hands from the block of stained glass that had, just a moment ago, been dishwater. The saucers and cups are still suspended in it, in fact. They look heavenly.]
Uwahhh, who would use magic for this...? [despite her irritation, Belphe is as cool and collected as she ever was, eyes narrowed at the glass. Aside from shining prettily in the light of the kitchen, it offers no explanation for itself. It merely suggests that in a world of improbable probabilities, she ought to get used to this quickly. The middle sister tries a moment more to free herself before recognizing the futile venture and promptly disappearing in a cloud of golden butterflies. The block of glass is left to drop to the floor and shatter in a dazzling display before she reappears to assess the damages. Her eyes wander to the camera, then, seemingly having noticed it was turned on during the struggle. There's no point in attempting to distract from the mess...surely they saw everything, so instead she hovers forth to take the device between her hands and peer into it]
I don't suppose this is the 'hard water' you humans speak of...? [if it's meant to be a joke, it's so wry that the humor has been crushed right out of her question.] If one of you could tell me where I might go to replace these dishes, I would be most appreciative...
3rd person sample: "Kyaaaaa...!! It's always me! I'm always left out!"
The middle sister looked up from her assigned task of dusting the tea room, a few seconds before Leviathan exploded into it.
"What is it, Levia-nee?" she asked in a tone of voice that sounded as casual as someone remarking on the weather. She furthered the effect by taking the time to finish polishing the spoon she held before giving her sister her full attention. It was a pointless question to ask as the answer was obvious given the elder stake's puffy eyes, skewed green locks, and reddened cheeks. While many might be alarmed to see their sibling in such a state, to Belphegor it was business as usual.
"They knew I wanted the middle one!" Leviathan complained, wiping her face on the back of her sleeve. "Ronove-sama said we could have first pick of the cookies from the tray. I said I wanted the middle one but no one LISTENED!! They all just took what they wanted and--and--" And then she was crying anew. Setting her cloth and the spoon aside, Belphegor assumed her expected role whenever this scenario came up and crossed the room to place a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.
"They're a lively bunch. They probably didn't hear you." she offered, arranging Levia's flyaway curls into something more presentable while at the same time guiding her onto one of the hassocks to sit down.
"They should let me go first just ONCE."
Belphe set her jaw, biting back the comment that rose to her tongue. It pleases them the way you carry on, you know. She'd lost count of the number of times Leviathan had been told this exact thing and it had fallen on deaf ears. It was simply the way Envy was built to live in constant longing and spite over what could have been hers, just as it was the way Sloth was built to take the path of least resistance...which, in this case, meant not committing herself to fighting her sisters' battles and, instead, looking for ways to simply placate her older sibling.
"If they won't let you, then you should make them." she said simply, making Leviathan stir from where she'd buried her face in her younger sister's jacket.
"Yeah. Yeah! I'll make them! They'll regret crossing Envy!"
"Maybe so." Belphe said with a simple nod, returning to her task at hand as she ignored the dangerous glint playing around Levia's red eyes. "Though for now, it would be better to collect yourself and calm down. You hardly make an imposing figure with your face all puffed up like that."
"Maybe..." Leviathan sighed, watching as Belphe resumed polishing silverware before moving to join her. Belphegor felt her shoulders stiffen in dislike at the uninvited help, but deigned not to remark for the moment. If wasn't as if one or two spoons would make all of the difference in--
....was she crying AGAIN??
"You left me all of the spotty ones! Belphegor, why did you take all of the clean spoons for yourself??"
Indeed, it was business as usual.
Questions?: Newp!
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes!
Depending on how one looks at it, she could be the least, or the most, sinister of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory. Her softspoken tone and gentle nature makes it very easy to want to trust her when she tells you that those important tasks you've yet to finish can be put off just a little longer. You still look tired, after all, you ought to rest some more. While this sort of treatment can be a welcome break for overworked friends and family, it just as easily serves as a trap for her targets, unmanning them of any will to exist on their own and leaving them fully vulnerable for a killing strike, or worse yet...being left alone to despair in their laziness as she abandons them for new goals.
When interacting with others, she comes off as cordial and quietly-neutral, sometimes to the point of seeming bored with whomever is speaking to her. It is, however, merely her nature to be subdued and to state things matter-of-factly without reacting much outwardly. In other words, she is not nearly as excitable or easily-upset as her sisters.
She responds with confusion and agitation if people show concern for her well-being or voice that they think she works too hard. She is not used to people worrying about her or showing her affection, and tends to find herself at a loss for how to react. This is illustrated quite clearly in the side-arc, "Stakes' Valentines Day", when she had stopped off to deliver a chocolate to Ushiromiya Rudolf in acknowledgment of his being a worthy adversary and he threw her off-balance by inquiring as to whether she had recovered well from their prior confrontation. Seeing that she was faltering, he decided to press his advantage by becoming physically affectionate. Belphe responded with alarm and by freezing up until his wife Kyrie (presumably) intervened.
When operating as a collective with the other stakes, Belphegor often serves as a sensible voice of reason and tries to keep the others level-headed if they start to falter in their assigned duties. As she's the most mature of the lot of them and least likely to be spiteful without provocation, her sisters often feel safe bringing their personal matters to her for insight. While patient, however, she is not a neverending well of tolerance and becomes angry if one of them threatens to get in the way of her work (ie - loudly cursing and gesticulating at Leviathan for implying she would complicate Belphe's plans to take advantage of Rudolf's White Day invitation to go shopping with him as an opportunity to make him a lazy slob)
Her opinion of humanity reflects Beatrice's...in that, it's not a highly-favorable one. Humans exist, as far as she and her sisters are concerned, as amusements and distractions that are easily-broken and constantly scrambling to top themselves in the small-minded ugliness they inflict on one another. As her main exposure to humans in general has been the twisted goings-on of the Ushiromiya family, and the cruelty of Ange's classmates, she has very little to base a positive opinion on, and isn't particularly driven to waste her time trying.
Under Beatrice the Golden's control, Belphe and her sisters are infamous for their cruelty, swarming their assigned victims like a school of mocking, giggling piranha and tearing them to pieces. When their ownership was relinquished to Ushiromiya Ange later in the canon, their role changed. They were no longer perceived by their young summoner as black-hearted assassins, but playmates and companions. This allowed the lot of them to explore a gentler, more amiable side to themselves more befitting of girls their apparent age and let their individual personalities shine.
Operating under the endless magic, as one might imagine, has given Belphe a skewed perception of death. "Permanently damaged" is not a phrase that she is well-acquainted with as anything or anyone that has been broken beyond repair is merely restored at Beatrice's will to what they were before. Even her own death she perceives as little more than a failure to fulfill her duties and a grave embarrassment.
Her in-game development has made her more receptive to the idea that aspects of humanity are not out of reach or strictly off-limits to her, allowing her to give more of herself to her friendships and relationship, though she still has many of her canon hang-ups about things.
HISTORY -- I will be bringing her to GB with her canon history as well as history from two previous games (she went from Route 29 with preexisting memories/CR into Demeleier, and would now be coming to GB).
It is unknown, exactly, when Belphegor came into being, presumably the fourth of seven sisters to be summoned from the nether by The Golden Witch hundreds of years ago. She makes her first appearance on Rokkenjima in Chapter 3 of her canon, following Lucifer's failure to defeat Kanon and appearing intermittently throughout the chapter in a collective with the other Stakes of Purgatory - Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Mammon, Satan, and Leviathan.
Near the end of Chapter 3, in a power-move to force the story's protagonist, Battler Ushiromiya, to either finger one of his family as the murderer, or accept that a witch had killed everyone, Belphegor and the other stakes are handed off to a young Ushiromiya Eva along with the Golden Witch's powers in general. It quickly becomes apparent that Eva-Beatrice is far more impulsive and cruel than Beato herself had been, disgusting Battler and making him resign as her opponent. The former Golden Witch recognizes that her game is in jeopardy and summons her once-furniture to issue them a final order - act with refinement and kill without cruelty.
When Eva-Beatrice calls upon Belphegor and Leviathan to take care of Rudolf and Kyrie as the next two sacrifices for her resurrection ceremony, they remind her that they cannot act with cruelty, but will try to play with their victims a bit to entertain her. Belphegor's confrontation with Rudolf ends in a devastating defeat when, during what had been a clearly-won battle finished up in the token gesture of a Western duel, Rudolf reveals his true intentions of attempting to gun down the golden witch while Belphe is distracted. Recognizing it as her duty to protect her master at all costs, Belphegor takes the bullet meant for Eva and is killed. Eva-Beatrice abandons the Stakes of Purgatory in favor of more violent and cruel furniture, leaving Belphe and her sisters to wait in limbo for years to be called upon again. In Chapter 4, the stakes are summoned by Ange Ushiromiya, the last surviving member of the Ushiromiya family and heir to the powers of the Golden Witch, as playmates to keep her company in an otherwise-hostile boarding school.
When Ange's grades start to suffer because she's spending too much time playing with her newfound friends, her classmates turn on her with cruel insults and mockery. Enraged, Ange orders Belphegor and the others to kill them all. They state that this is impossible for them unless Ange is prepared to strike first and allow them to follow her lead. They cannot do anything that Ange herself can't do. Ange turns her anger on the seven sisters, calling them out as useless delusions and shattering them from existence one by one with her denial.
It is at this point Belphegor arrived in Route 29's setting
Newly arrived in Johto and entrapped in a human body without her magic, Belphe's first order of business became making her escape from Team Rocket's headquarters. After learning a few of her sisters, as well as Ange herself, existed in this place, she sought them out and rejoined them. Thinking she was being offered a second chance to amend her failures, she promised she would not disappoint Ange again. As fate would have it, however, Ange was glitched out of existence shortly afterward, leaving Belphe, Mammon, Asmodeus, and Lucifer with conflicted interests in who they answered to as all of them had been drawn from different points of their timeline.
This conflict was resolved in short order as Beatrice herself arrived in Johto, commanding their immediate attention and obedience. Learning that her furniture was without it's magic in this place, however, the Golden Witch soon dismissed the stakes in favor of the novelty of hand-picking her own team of powerful Pokémon. With Belphegor and her sisters more or less left to their own devices, the girls began to explore what it was to live as humans and rejoice in the arrival of others they revered such as Maria and Sakutaro.
As her sisters indulged themselves in their newfound freedom, Belphe found herself work as a filing assistant at one of the Pokémon centers, her interests firmly on becoming the provider for her siblings and master (and not wanting to be outdone by Mammon's tendency to accumulate wealth with little effort). As the weeks wore on, she was made rudely aware of the fact that with her human body had also come it's vices and limitations. No longer could she work endlessly without resting, and no longer was she immune to feeling emotions and impulses on humanity's level.
Outside of her family and other familiar faces from Rokkenjima, she had found a single acquaintance over the network that she spoke to with any regularity - a somewhat spooky-looking young man identifying himself only as Ryuzaki. On top of (unwillingly) making it clear he was someone not accustomed to taking care of himself, thus capturing her interest, he had voiced interest in collecting information about Team Rocket's organization. Belphe invited him to seek her in Goldenrod where she would give him her copy of the orientation manual she had received upon her arrival in Johto. After meeting face-to-face, they cemented a friendship via an informal agreement to travel together with Belphe handling his affairs, and Ryuzaki accepting her assistance.
When Beatrice departed from Johto, things were, again, uncertain among the stakes. Lady Lambdadelta tried to claim her right as a witch with reigning seniority to command Belphegor, Lucifer, Mammon, and Asmodeus as her own furniture, though the girls leaned more toward serving their youngest summoner, Maria. Finding herself irked at the lack of resolution, Belphe began to spend more time with Ryuzaki and focus herself on training up her team.
Things were, once again, resolved by Beatrice's sudden appearance as she reclaimed her place as the girls' owner, with no recollection of her previous stay. This time, she had little interest in relying on Pokémon, and put the stakes back to work as her property. While Belphe was pleased to rediscover her place and purpose at her master's side, Ryuzaki resented Beatrice's interference and expressed it with a series of private confrontations wherein he questioned her capabilities as a witch. Unaware of the animosity being stirred between her friend and master, Belphe continued her tasks, collaborating with Mammon to purchase both Beatrice and themselves a home in Goldenrod City.
Their plans were rudely interrupted, however, as a swarm of shedinja descended on Johto from an unknown source. They took many people's souls hostage in the process, reducing them to unresponsive husks. With Mammon and Ryuzaki among the victims, and with her remaining sisters protecting Maria, Beatrice, and Battler in Violet City, Belphegor was left to her own devices to not only make sure the two of them were cared for, but to capture as many shedinja as she was able in hopes of releasing their stolen souls. At the end of a very stressful week, both of them awoke restored and Belphe took a well-deserved rest over a couple of days before returning to work.
The incident had changed the climate of several of her relationships. She and her sisters became far more protective of one another than they'd been before and wasted no further time in buying their home together. Beatrice grew less tolerant of those who would alter that which belonged to her, and kept a more vigilant eye on Rokkenjima's pieces. Ryuzaki, after watching a captured video feed of Belphe tending him while he was unconscious, grew to have a better appreciation of her diligence and began making tentative steps toward repaying her for her protection and care. While little actually came of it, they were able to establish that there was a mutual attraction and share a real (if painfully awkward) kiss.
Battler was glitched out of Johto following a period of brief peace, setting Beatrice on-edge and making her more jealously-possessive of the stakes. If that weren't enough, Mammon soon followed Battler's example, vanishing one morning without a trace. Belphe and the others found themselves distraught at her absence, knowing there was no guarantee they'd be reunited with her soon, if at all.
She was approached by Ryuzaki who, aware of her upset, voiced an interest in helping distract her from recent events. She was stubborn at first, insisting she didn't have the time to waste pursuing aimless fun when she was needed where she was. Some persistence led to the proposal of making a sweep of the gyms they had not already challenged to collect the remaining badges. Seeing it as a productive venture that would allow her to recover some confidence and prove herself to be fully-capable furniture, Belphe agreed to set out with him after her sisters and Beatrice had been properly informed of her journey and when to expect her back.
Their first (and, as it so happened, last) stop on their journey was Azalea Town, which they arrived in late at night. Having used the hours of travel between their start and finish point as an opportunity to speak freely with one another, a good deal of the social inadequacy that had been a barrier between them had dissipated. Maybe a bit too much. As they settled into their room for the night, the opportunity arose for one thing to lead to another and, agreeably exhausted a short while later, they fell deeply asleep together. When next they woke, it would not be in Johto but in a strange temple, someone having dressed them and each with a crown of rowan on their heads.
At this point Belphe arrived in Demeleier’s game setting
Belphe would spend the next while in the remote village of Demeleier – a small haven protected by a mysterious guardian against the mischievous and destructive faefolk of the wood. Removed from the security of a place where death was not a factor and disturbed by the chaotic magic that followed no rules, Ryuzaki was vulnerable here and required Belphegor to serve as his protector. In exchange for her promise of diligence, he safeguarded her with the truth about his real name, and where he’d come from.
Belphe, largely, was able to hold her own against the attacking fae and their trickery with her now-restored powers, though some proved too much for even high-ranking witch’s furniture. Being abducted and killed by the Erlking on Valentines Day was a sobering reminder to her that, in many cases, the Golden Magic was not the most powerful force at work in this place. With some difficulty, she was able to find a rhythm to her new way of life, and to become comfortable in dividing her time between L and her summoner, Ange. who seemed to have resurfaced in Deme after departing Johto and now resided there with her older sister, Leviathan.
Ange, in a show of generosity unbecoming of most witches, supported Belphe making new friends and pursuing joys in life outside of being a servant, which offered her a rare opportunity to be a friend/lover while not having to surrender her occupation as dedicated furniture. She was permitted to share a croft with L while Leviathan shared Ange's.
This agreeable status quo, however, did not last. One Light Yagami’s arrival to Deme changed the climate of everything. Her relationship with L took on a venomous, paranoid slant as he began to withdraw from her, keeping to himself, and accusing her of wrongs she had not committed. When she connected his strangeness to Light, he firmly told her she was NOT to interfere. It was his case, his suspect, and none of her business. Belphe grew resentful that everything she offered was being rejected and, likewise, withdrew.
When Ange disappeared from Deme, Belphe found herself at a loss for how to remain useful. She resorted to spending time with one Ryou Bakura who enlisted her help in building a tea house that he hoped would appease the fae if they were invited to it and give Demeleier some middle-ground with their aggressors. She threw herself into the project so fully, that she was oblivious to everything else. ....right up until a distress call from L went up over the mirror network. He refused to divulge details, but he was buried alive somewhere, by someone, and needed help. Belphe was reluctant, as she felt he deserved to reap what he’d sowed, but ultimately was drawn into the situation by the obligation of her promise. After paying Light Yagami a visit to extract the whereabouts of L, having no doubt he was responsible and willing to stab him in as many places as necessary to make him talk, she was able to retrieve him from his early tomb in the graveyard.
The rescue seemed to do little to reconcile things between the two, and Belphe returned to her place at the tea house and what was, for the moment, her lot in life. After working up the nerve to straighten up Ange's abandoned croft in vain hopes her summoner might return one afternoon, Belphe made a jarring discovery. Hidden beneath Ange's mattress were two letters addressed to herself and Leviathan that had been written on the assumption Ange would, eventually, be pulled from Demeleier. In them, both sisters were thanked for their service and for being Ange's best friends, and Belphegor was granted permission to be recognized as a human so that she may know love fully.
Not having a love anymore, the letter seemed bittersweet....at least until L turned up a few days following, having exacted his revenge fully on Light and feeling ready to attempt to apologize for his behavior. The two talked, compromised, and dealed for several hours before both were satisfied with the resolution they'd reached. They would not forgive or forget, but pick up where they'd left off and move on a bit wiser. She, at this point, has kept the letter and its grant of permission to herself, unsure of how to bring it up as she does not want her decision forced.
HISTORY -- I will be bringing her to GB with her canon history as well as history from two previous games (she went from Route 29 with preexisting memories/CR into Demeleier, and would now be coming to GB).
It is unknown, exactly, when Belphegor came into being, presumably the fourth of seven sisters to be summoned from the nether by The Golden Witch hundreds of years ago. She makes her first appearance on Rokkenjima in Chapter 3 of her canon, following Lucifer's failure to defeat Kanon and appearing intermittently throughout the chapter in a collective with the other Stakes of Purgatory - Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Mammon, Satan, and Leviathan.
Near the end of Chapter 3, in a power-move to force the story's protagonist, Battler Ushiromiya, to either finger one of his family as the murderer, or accept that a witch had killed everyone, Belphegor and the other stakes are handed off to a young Ushiromiya Eva along with the Golden Witch's powers in general. It quickly becomes apparent that Eva-Beatrice is far more impulsive and cruel than Beato herself had been, disgusting Battler and making him resign as her opponent. The former Golden Witch recognizes that her game is in jeopardy and summons her once-furniture to issue them a final order - act with refinement and kill without cruelty.
When Eva-Beatrice calls upon Belphegor and Leviathan to take care of Rudolf and Kyrie as the next two sacrifices for her resurrection ceremony, they remind her that they cannot act with cruelty, but will try to play with their victims a bit to entertain her. Belphegor's confrontation with Rudolf ends in a devastating defeat when, during what had been a clearly-won battle finished up in the token gesture of a Western duel, Rudolf reveals his true intentions of attempting to gun down the golden witch while Belphe is distracted. Recognizing it as her duty to protect her master at all costs, Belphegor takes the bullet meant for Eva and is killed. Eva-Beatrice abandons the Stakes of Purgatory in favor of more violent and cruel furniture, leaving Belphe and her sisters to wait in limbo for years to be called upon again. In Chapter 4, the stakes are summoned by Ange Ushiromiya, the last surviving member of the Ushiromiya family and heir to the powers of the Golden Witch, as playmates to keep her company in an otherwise-hostile boarding school.
When Ange's grades start to suffer because she's spending too much time playing with her newfound friends, her classmates turn on her with cruel insults and mockery. Enraged, Ange orders Belphegor and the others to kill them all. They state that this is impossible for them unless Ange is prepared to strike first and allow them to follow her lead. They cannot do anything that Ange herself can't do. Ange turns her anger on the seven sisters, calling them out as useless delusions and shattering them from existence one by one with her denial.
It is at this point Belphegor arrived in Route 29's setting
Newly arrived in Johto and entrapped in a human body without her magic, Belphe's first order of business became making her escape from Team Rocket's headquarters. After learning a few of her sisters, as well as Ange herself, existed in this place, she sought them out and rejoined them. Thinking she was being offered a second chance to amend her failures, she promised she would not disappoint Ange again. As fate would have it, however, Ange was glitched out of existence shortly afterward, leaving Belphe, Mammon, Asmodeus, and Lucifer with conflicted interests in who they answered to as all of them had been drawn from different points of their timeline.
This conflict was resolved in short order as Beatrice herself arrived in Johto, commanding their immediate attention and obedience. Learning that her furniture was without it's magic in this place, however, the Golden Witch soon dismissed the stakes in favor of the novelty of hand-picking her own team of powerful Pokémon. With Belphegor and her sisters more or less left to their own devices, the girls began to explore what it was to live as humans and rejoice in the arrival of others they revered such as Maria and Sakutaro.
As her sisters indulged themselves in their newfound freedom, Belphe found herself work as a filing assistant at one of the Pokémon centers, her interests firmly on becoming the provider for her siblings and master (and not wanting to be outdone by Mammon's tendency to accumulate wealth with little effort). As the weeks wore on, she was made rudely aware of the fact that with her human body had also come it's vices and limitations. No longer could she work endlessly without resting, and no longer was she immune to feeling emotions and impulses on humanity's level.
Outside of her family and other familiar faces from Rokkenjima, she had found a single acquaintance over the network that she spoke to with any regularity - a somewhat spooky-looking young man identifying himself only as Ryuzaki. On top of (unwillingly) making it clear he was someone not accustomed to taking care of himself, thus capturing her interest, he had voiced interest in collecting information about Team Rocket's organization. Belphe invited him to seek her in Goldenrod where she would give him her copy of the orientation manual she had received upon her arrival in Johto. After meeting face-to-face, they cemented a friendship via an informal agreement to travel together with Belphe handling his affairs, and Ryuzaki accepting her assistance.
When Beatrice departed from Johto, things were, again, uncertain among the stakes. Lady Lambdadelta tried to claim her right as a witch with reigning seniority to command Belphegor, Lucifer, Mammon, and Asmodeus as her own furniture, though the girls leaned more toward serving their youngest summoner, Maria. Finding herself irked at the lack of resolution, Belphe began to spend more time with Ryuzaki and focus herself on training up her team.
Things were, once again, resolved by Beatrice's sudden appearance as she reclaimed her place as the girls' owner, with no recollection of her previous stay. This time, she had little interest in relying on Pokémon, and put the stakes back to work as her property. While Belphe was pleased to rediscover her place and purpose at her master's side, Ryuzaki resented Beatrice's interference and expressed it with a series of private confrontations wherein he questioned her capabilities as a witch. Unaware of the animosity being stirred between her friend and master, Belphe continued her tasks, collaborating with Mammon to purchase both Beatrice and themselves a home in Goldenrod City.
Their plans were rudely interrupted, however, as a swarm of shedinja descended on Johto from an unknown source. They took many people's souls hostage in the process, reducing them to unresponsive husks. With Mammon and Ryuzaki among the victims, and with her remaining sisters protecting Maria, Beatrice, and Battler in Violet City, Belphegor was left to her own devices to not only make sure the two of them were cared for, but to capture as many shedinja as she was able in hopes of releasing their stolen souls. At the end of a very stressful week, both of them awoke restored and Belphe took a well-deserved rest over a couple of days before returning to work.
The incident had changed the climate of several of her relationships. She and her sisters became far more protective of one another than they'd been before and wasted no further time in buying their home together. Beatrice grew less tolerant of those who would alter that which belonged to her, and kept a more vigilant eye on Rokkenjima's pieces. Ryuzaki, after watching a captured video feed of Belphe tending him while he was unconscious, grew to have a better appreciation of her diligence and began making tentative steps toward repaying her for her protection and care. While little actually came of it, they were able to establish that there was a mutual attraction and share a real (if painfully awkward) kiss.
Battler was glitched out of Johto following a period of brief peace, setting Beatrice on-edge and making her more jealously-possessive of the stakes. If that weren't enough, Mammon soon followed Battler's example, vanishing one morning without a trace. Belphe and the others found themselves distraught at her absence, knowing there was no guarantee they'd be reunited with her soon, if at all.
She was approached by Ryuzaki who, aware of her upset, voiced an interest in helping distract her from recent events. She was stubborn at first, insisting she didn't have the time to waste pursuing aimless fun when she was needed where she was. Some persistence led to the proposal of making a sweep of the gyms they had not already challenged to collect the remaining badges. Seeing it as a productive venture that would allow her to recover some confidence and prove herself to be fully-capable furniture, Belphe agreed to set out with him after her sisters and Beatrice had been properly informed of her journey and when to expect her back.
Their first (and, as it so happened, last) stop on their journey was Azalea Town, which they arrived in late at night. Having used the hours of travel between their start and finish point as an opportunity to speak freely with one another, a good deal of the social inadequacy that had been a barrier between them had dissipated. Maybe a bit too much. As they settled into their room for the night, the opportunity arose for one thing to lead to another and, agreeably exhausted a short while later, they fell deeply asleep together. When next they woke, it would not be in Johto but in a strange temple, someone having dressed them and each with a crown of rowan on their heads.
At this point Belphe arrived in Demeleier’s game setting
Belphe would spend the next while in the remote village of Demeleier – a small haven protected by a mysterious guardian against the mischievous and destructive faefolk of the wood. Removed from the security of a place where death was not a factor and disturbed by the chaotic magic that followed no rules, Ryuzaki was vulnerable here and required Belphegor to serve as his protector. In exchange for her promise of diligence, he safeguarded her with the truth about his real name, and where he’d come from.
Belphe, largely, was able to hold her own against the attacking fae and their trickery with her now-restored powers, though some proved too much for even high-ranking witch’s furniture. Being abducted and killed by the Erlking on Valentines Day was a sobering reminder to her that, in many cases, the Golden Magic was not the most powerful force at work in this place. With some difficulty, she was able to find a rhythm to her new way of life, and to become comfortable in dividing her time between L and her summoner, Ange. who seemed to have resurfaced in Deme after departing Johto and now resided there with her older sister, Leviathan.
Ange, in a show of generosity unbecoming of most witches, supported Belphe making new friends and pursuing joys in life outside of being a servant, which offered her a rare opportunity to be a friend/lover while not having to surrender her occupation as dedicated furniture. She was permitted to share a croft with L while Leviathan shared Ange's.
This agreeable status quo, however, did not last. One Light Yagami’s arrival to Deme changed the climate of everything. Her relationship with L took on a venomous, paranoid slant as he began to withdraw from her, keeping to himself, and accusing her of wrongs she had not committed. When she connected his strangeness to Light, he firmly told her she was NOT to interfere. It was his case, his suspect, and none of her business. Belphe grew resentful that everything she offered was being rejected and, likewise, withdrew.
When Ange disappeared from Deme, Belphe found herself at a loss for how to remain useful. She resorted to spending time with one Ryou Bakura who enlisted her help in building a tea house that he hoped would appease the fae if they were invited to it and give Demeleier some middle-ground with their aggressors. She threw herself into the project so fully, that she was oblivious to everything else. ....right up until a distress call from L went up over the mirror network. He refused to divulge details, but he was buried alive somewhere, by someone, and needed help. Belphe was reluctant, as she felt he deserved to reap what he’d sowed, but ultimately was drawn into the situation by the obligation of her promise. After paying Light Yagami a visit to extract the whereabouts of L, having no doubt he was responsible and willing to stab him in as many places as necessary to make him talk, she was able to retrieve him from his early tomb in the graveyard.
The rescue seemed to do little to reconcile things between the two, and Belphe returned to her place at the tea house and what was, for the moment, her lot in life. After working up the nerve to straighten up Ange's abandoned croft in vain hopes her summoner might return one afternoon, Belphe made a jarring discovery. Hidden beneath Ange's mattress were two letters addressed to herself and Leviathan that had been written on the assumption Ange would, eventually, be pulled from Demeleier. In them, both sisters were thanked for their service and for being Ange's best friends, and Belphegor was granted permission to be recognized as a human so that she may know love fully.
Not having a love anymore, the letter seemed bittersweet....at least until L turned up a few days following, having exacted his revenge fully on Light and feeling ready to attempt to apologize for his behavior. The two talked, compromised, and dealed for several hours before both were satisfied with the resolution they'd reached. They would not forgive or forget, but pick up where they'd left off and move on a bit wiser. She, at this point, has kept the letter and its grant of permission to herself, unsure of how to bring it up as she does not want her decision forced.
Why should that character be in this game: Not an OC so does not apply
Why do you want to continue their history here: Belphe's passed through some pretty aggressive and ominous universes the last couple of years and spent most of her time constantly on her guard to protect her master(s), sisters, and newly-made friends. Having been granted backhanded permission to become a human in her last game recently, I feel putting her in an environment where she can explore what it is to live as one without things becoming completely mundane would be refreshing for both mun and player. The idea that she will be afforded the chance to experience some amazingly improbable probabilities without having to leave to other universes to find them would be something she would find, in particular, of interest. (also I may be joined by a friend who has accompanied me through the same games this last while)
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play: N/A
Have you read up on how the game works?: The guide plugin is called FlamingFerret. Characters acquire money by taking missions, stealing/mooching, or going into business
1st person sample: [Hello, residents, are you having a good day so far? Well, it appears someone isn't. The video feed has been jostled on unwittingly by what looks to be a very put-out stake attempting to free her hands from the block of stained glass that had, just a moment ago, been dishwater. The saucers and cups are still suspended in it, in fact. They look heavenly.]
Uwahhh, who would use magic for this...? [despite her irritation, Belphe is as cool and collected as she ever was, eyes narrowed at the glass. Aside from shining prettily in the light of the kitchen, it offers no explanation for itself. It merely suggests that in a world of improbable probabilities, she ought to get used to this quickly. The middle sister tries a moment more to free herself before recognizing the futile venture and promptly disappearing in a cloud of golden butterflies. The block of glass is left to drop to the floor and shatter in a dazzling display before she reappears to assess the damages. Her eyes wander to the camera, then, seemingly having noticed it was turned on during the struggle. There's no point in attempting to distract from the mess...surely they saw everything, so instead she hovers forth to take the device between her hands and peer into it]
I don't suppose this is the 'hard water' you humans speak of...? [if it's meant to be a joke, it's so wry that the humor has been crushed right out of her question.] If one of you could tell me where I might go to replace these dishes, I would be most appreciative...
3rd person sample: "Kyaaaaa...!! It's always me! I'm always left out!"
The middle sister looked up from her assigned task of dusting the tea room, a few seconds before Leviathan exploded into it.
"What is it, Levia-nee?" she asked in a tone of voice that sounded as casual as someone remarking on the weather. She furthered the effect by taking the time to finish polishing the spoon she held before giving her sister her full attention. It was a pointless question to ask as the answer was obvious given the elder stake's puffy eyes, skewed green locks, and reddened cheeks. While many might be alarmed to see their sibling in such a state, to Belphegor it was business as usual.
"They knew I wanted the middle one!" Leviathan complained, wiping her face on the back of her sleeve. "Ronove-sama said we could have first pick of the cookies from the tray. I said I wanted the middle one but no one LISTENED!! They all just took what they wanted and--and--" And then she was crying anew. Setting her cloth and the spoon aside, Belphegor assumed her expected role whenever this scenario came up and crossed the room to place a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.
"They're a lively bunch. They probably didn't hear you." she offered, arranging Levia's flyaway curls into something more presentable while at the same time guiding her onto one of the hassocks to sit down.
"They should let me go first just ONCE."
Belphe set her jaw, biting back the comment that rose to her tongue. It pleases them the way you carry on, you know. She'd lost count of the number of times Leviathan had been told this exact thing and it had fallen on deaf ears. It was simply the way Envy was built to live in constant longing and spite over what could have been hers, just as it was the way Sloth was built to take the path of least resistance...which, in this case, meant not committing herself to fighting her sisters' battles and, instead, looking for ways to simply placate her older sibling.
"If they won't let you, then you should make them." she said simply, making Leviathan stir from where she'd buried her face in her younger sister's jacket.
"Yeah. Yeah! I'll make them! They'll regret crossing Envy!"
"Maybe so." Belphe said with a simple nod, returning to her task at hand as she ignored the dangerous glint playing around Levia's red eyes. "Though for now, it would be better to collect yourself and calm down. You hardly make an imposing figure with your face all puffed up like that."
"Maybe..." Leviathan sighed, watching as Belphe resumed polishing silverware before moving to join her. Belphegor felt her shoulders stiffen in dislike at the uninvited help, but deigned not to remark for the moment. If wasn't as if one or two spoons would make all of the difference in--
....was she crying AGAIN??
"You left me all of the spotty ones! Belphegor, why did you take all of the clean spoons for yourself??"
Indeed, it was business as usual.
Questions?: Newp!
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes!
