Larxene (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trancheuse) wrote2019-09-05 12:49 am
trancheuse) wrote2019-09-05 12:49 am
Deerington App
IN CHARACTER
Character Name: Larxene
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Canon Point: KH 3, Shortly after the meeting with fellow Organization members after Arendelle (but before the final showdown with Sora and King Mickey).
In-Game Tattoo Placement: An antler coiled around an empty space between her breasts where the heart should be.
Current Health/Status: Alive
Age: Unclear. Appears to be in her early 20s.
Species: Nobody
Content Warnings: Violence, Sadism, Memory Manipulation
History: Wiki #1 & Disney Wiki #2
Along with Elrena's KH Wiki Page (although Elrena's history is largely unimportant to Larxene's development as her Nobody.). Her wikis are quite thorough thankfully.
CRAU History and Impact: N/A
Personality:
Larxene was, once a girl by the name of Elrena. A keyblade user of the team known as Dandelion, not a lot is recalled about her life and her work with her old teammates Lauriam and Strelitzia, other than that she rarely showed a great deal of care for others. Lost to darkness and consumed by it, she became the Nobody known as Larxene, a heartless shade of a woman, not once but twice.
Larxene, on the surface, is a sadistic, playful, cruel little witch of a woman who delights in the torment of other people, mocks even people whose company she likes or tolerates and who never seems to take anything that seriously. The secret? There is no secret. She really is that person deep down to her core, even if there are more tidbits to be gleaned that are more well buried. Delving deeper merely hits upon some of the reasons that she behaves this way. She does not secretly love puppies or sit on clocktowers enjoying sea salt ice creamsickles with her best buddies in her spare time, talking about the feelings that she broods on deep inside. What you see is, in fact, what you get with her. A large part of this is that she is a Nobody, and not only a Nobody but in the end a very willing nobody. Her second go around, in Kingdom Hearts 3, she willingly allowed herself to be consumed by her darkness alongside Lauriam. Nobodies have no hearts, and as heartless creatures consumed by darkness they have no or next to no real emotions themselves. Any display of emotion is usually either a ruse to trick others, or sometimes to trick even themselves. In Larxene's case, based upon the way that she speaks to Marluxia in KH 3 about how she does not view herself to be a mere 'empty shell,' her act as Larxene may be so old and long remembered that she has fooled herself into believing she is strong willed enough to have some level of emotions and personality, without the shackles of a real heart. She prefers to be the way that she is.
She is callous, flippant and cruel towards almost everyone. This includes even Marluxia and Axel, who it appears that she actually cares about in some small way. She teases virtually anyone that she meats relentlessly, and finding ways to mock a person is as natural to her as breathing. Only very rarely are her words within the span of the canon not laced with at least a subtle amount of mockery towards the person that she is speaking to, regardless of their rank, authority or closeness to her. Her callousness comes with a distinct lack of maturity at times, peppered with giggles, titters and laughs as she can't seem to help herself but deride people who are around her as 'losers' and 'idiots.' This is particularly apparent throughout Chain of Memories, though we still see this to an extent even in her final appearances. At the moment of her final defeat and fading into darkness, one of her regrets is that a “loser” like Sora had defeated her, despite the two having had several run ins in the past. She is capable of showing a nominal amount of respect to someone who's earned it (such as Sora), but they will still always be the butt of her jokes even if she respects their capabilities.
She is a cunning, manipulative woman, always looking for an angle to cause further strife and trouble. Even knowing that Xemnas is well aware of their former betrayal, she is seen attempting to convince her old teammate Marluxia to co-conspire for a coup once again. It does not appear that she actually craves power for herself, however, or to supplant any real authority so much as it does that she simply enjoys the strife that she causes among others. She is never content, always restless, always yearning to be out, 'having fun.' She can be flirtatious, as she is with Axel on several occasions, and likes to position herself well within the comfort zones of others, though this is at least in part to tease and make them uncomfortable, not necessarily to solicit romantic attention.
Her idea of fun itself is one thing that has to be addressed in understanding her. She is a sadist. She tells Sora when he comes to fight her a final time in Chain of Memories that more people to suffer pain means more fun for her. She delights in seeing people in emotional pain or physical pain. She displays on countless occasions an unabashedly libertine and amoral outlook. She is unconcerned with the idea that hers or others' memories might be manipulated or that she's being used as a tool (other than mild irritation at being manipulated herself). She's along for the ride as she says at her death (whether to oppose Sora because it is fun, or to fight alongside Marluxia her old teammate is unclear), and out to have fun. The maximum amount of fun is had with the maximum amount of pain and discomfort in others, though she seems to be quite capable of finding ways to curtail this baser nature when it might inconvenience her. She also shows on a few cases a sort of pragmatic dislike of breaking 'toys' such as Sora prematurely if they still have a use for her, meaning that her cruelty is at least swayed by pragmatic concerns (even if she will be quite vocal about her displeasure over this).
Underneath the surface, though, there does seem to be a bit of philosophy that can be scratched out. Her libertine attitude is almost to the point of being a matter of principle, as she's shown to take great displeasure in heroes or those who try to foist their ideas of what is right on others. We see this in the most pronounced way during the Arrendelle sequence in KH3, where she repeatedly tells Sora to mind his business and “Let Elsa figure it out for herself.” She seems disgusted by what she deems to be 'hero types,' and takes an openly freedom-oriented philosophy, that she and others should be free to do whatever they wish, as they wish, in the way that they wish. Sometimes, for her, it is less about sadism as the absolute freedom for a person to be themselves, even if this means that they are an enemy to her, or to another. She seemed comfortable with the idea that Elsa had a heart of light in the end, as did Anna, even amused by it. There is no cursing, anger or distaste. She just doesn't like Sora's constant meddling, even if it is something that she seems to take as his nature.
Larxene has a somewhat unusual relationship with memories, partially because of her associations with Namine, who is capable of altering memories. Though she does not appear to have been subjected to this, she is almost blasé to the concept of someone's memories being rewritten, and does not appear to either trust them as a guide to action, or care especially if they are false. She simply does not put stock in her memories or others, because they could all be fabricated. She expresses pronounced irritation at those who rely upon demonstrably false memories as being deluded (as does Marluxia, hinting that this is not an unusual attitude of Nobodies). She seems to be more focused on her 'nature' than her memories. She 'is' what she is, and that is more important to her as is being true to that. Even when her memories return at the end of her time in KH 3, she does not change profoundly (unlike Marluxia who expresses gratitude), implying that if she had the chance she would simply become a nobody all over again. It is what she is, as her partner in KH Union X said of her. She never cared that much, not about people, not about memories, not about ethics or feelings. Why start now?
Deep down, it is possible that she cares about a very very few people in her life. Axel, whose betrayal cut her deeply, is one as is Marluxia to whom she remains loyal despite all the verbal sniping. She may even show herself to be tacitly loyal to Demyx and Luxord as fellow former keyblade wielders (unknown to her) who were specially recruited together by Xemnas, though both earn plenty of her ire and tongue lashings. Even Sora gets a certain wicked fondness after so many fights together, though it is hard to say if this is beyond skin deep. But, though she has some affection for these, her loyalty is not deep enough to anyone but Marluxia to put herself at any sort of real risk for them, or to go out of her way to associate with any but he or Axel in the old days.
Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
-Advanced Physique: Larxene is extremely quick, nimble, agile and athletic with considerable combat prowess. She is strong enough to throw knives in straight lines over several tens of yards (an extremely difficult feat). Her fighting style has been likened to ninjutsu in the past. She is shown to be far faster than keyblade users and the like and so are likely greater than a normal human by a certain margin.
In principle, her agility and strength aren't at X-Men levels. She isn't shown to dodge bullets or lift boulders, after all, so it is safe to put her just beyond the peak of human performance. This shouldn't need any warping.
-Electricity Control: Larxene can create, conduct and wield electricity, lightning and even thunder as weapons, and does so with ease in combat. She has been shown to be able to manipulate other 'elements' such as ice in combat, though she claims it is not her style and she lacks any real subtlety or control with it. For the most part, I prefer to keep her magic to lightning and only lightning.
In Deerington, this power's warping should probably include that it is no longer possible for her to consistently summon her lightning at will. Her most basic attacks, such as charging a punch or slash with her knives would work most of the time, but her most powerful lightning bolts should be inconsistent and draining.
-Levitation: Larxene can't fly per se, but she is capable of low grade levitation that floats her up gradually toward the top of a building, though we never see her exceed this height (Making it likely she can't go much further than a hundred feet).
This probably doesn't need much warping, as it is already limited and cannot get her out of Deerington.
-Teleportation: She is shown to frequently teleport through the shadows and darkness, wrapping herself in them and disappearing from one point to another over great distances at times.
This power will need obvious warping. I am comfortable with both a complete removal, or with her being able to inconsistently teleport around the city of Deerington, but no further (though I would prefer that this be the moderator's call instead of mine. Both work, and I'm not fussed with either.).
-Nobody: Larxene is a Nobody, the emotionless leftover of Elrena's transformation into a Heartless. This makes her very difficult to emotionally manipulate or control (Although she is perfectly easy to trick, fool or intellectually manipulate), as she has little to no feelings to augment or manipulate.
This probably doesn't need any warping, really.
Inventory:
-Foudre (A set of 8 knuckle-grip throwing knives used as a set together. - Weapon Slot. If necessary, I'm comfortable with her receiving only one at first, but I would prefer the single set as they're rarely seen apart from each other.)
-Her Organization XIII uniform (A black, hooded trench coat, pants, boots and gloves with bodysuit underneath)
-Three Spare Organization XIII uniforms.
-A biography of the Marquis de Sade (The one she's seen reading in the CoM manga.)
Writing Samples:
One - TDM with Roxas, Sora & Mami Tomoe
Sept TDM w/ Mami Tomie
Sept TDM w/ Vanitas
OUT OF CHARACTER
Player Name: Latroma
Player Age: 18+
Player Contact:
Other Characters In Game: Vira-Lorr
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Larxene: Latroma
Permissions for Character: here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yup. Part of the fun of the game.
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: I'm fairly open to both physical and psychological horror. There's fun to be had in either one of these, conceptually and I don't think any really stands out as being better or not, particularly with Larxene.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Unbirth, Infantilism, Genital Mutilation/Torture, Issues related to Pregnancy/Infants
Additional Information: Nope!
A Minor Note on Interpretation - Larxene's Final Secret in KH3 (Spoilers for KH3 obviously)
"I was really just along for the ride..."
"..with?"
"Mmmph, that's my secret."
There's four main interpretations here that run around:
-she's fucking with Sora.
-She's loyal to or in love with Marluxia (And Elrena harbors feelings for or loyalty to Lauriam)
-She's got a bit of a thing for Sora that's built up over the course of multiple games.
-Despite the misgivings over his betrayal, she's still interested in Axel/Lea.
So, to be clear: I'm in the Marluxia camp, though I'm undecided if she has romantic interest in him (in so far as a Nobody is capable of those kinds of feelings) or if she is simply loyal to him from years of working together and loyalty between Elrena and Lauriam that transcends even the loss of her heart and memory. I tend to lean towards it being non-romantic with the potential of romance if he ever stepped up and expressed an interest.
if it isn't that, I lean towards "She's fucking with Sora." Why? Because it's Larxene. She's always screwing with Sora with one half truth or another. She could very well have just been along for the ride out of boredom. She treats coup attempts with the same level of seriousness that one does a pick-up game of hockey in canon. Why not treat this one last jab the same way?
The Sora and Axel angles are simply not ones I back. While she certainly displays a bit of grudging respect for both as combatants (which does not spare them her tongue lashings, taunting or sadism) and she might even 'like' them in her own perverse and violent way to a minimal degree (though she is clearly and always exasperated by Sora's tendency to "play the hero" as she puts it, and Axel turned on them all in the end.), I do not believe either displays any sort of actual romantic affection from her to them at any point in the game. She flirts with Axel in CoM but barely registers him in KH3, as if her flirtations were nothing more than an attempt to keep him off balance and uncomfortable. She never displays a desire for anything more than for Sora to go away or suffer pain in most situations in both games. She's not 'into' either of them, no matter how much the occasional moments of wishful thinking in fandom from certain angles might cry out.
In the end? It's nothing and she's screwing with Sora as she dies which is entirely in character, or this really is just about her following her old friend, superior and ally Marly in life, in death, nobody or somebody for reasons that we are left to wonder about, as Union never bothered to actually address them other than to identify her somebody.