Application for vatheon
[ Character's Name ] : Sabitsuki
[ Character's Age ] : It's not certain, but Sabitsuki appears to be in her teenage years. For game purposes I will go with 15 years old.
[ Series ] : .flow
[ Canon Point ] : Before the end of the game when Rust takes over
[ History ] :
.flow is a game that was made to feel like a dream. There is no quest, no purpose you have to strive for to win, no dialogue- everything you encounter is not based logically on anything you're used to in a game. Really, the major part of it is just exploring the world of the dream and deciding to do with whatever you find. (There are ways to "win" the game, but you're never told how to, and most find the ending by pure accident.)
Therefore, like a dream, there is no logical story behind it. There are many clues strewn within the worlds you see, like the world of the hospital, or the fact that one of the worlds is literally a school where white-haired children with bloody faces chase after you, laughing maniacally. But in the end, there is no definite answer as to what sort of story Sabitsuki had. Therefore, many players form their own opinions and headcanons as to who Sabitsuki is and what exactly her dreams mean. I will try my best to give the most accurate history I can divine from the symbols and imagery of Sabitsuki's world.
You can find descriptions of the game and NPCs encountered over here.
------------------------------
Sabitsuki is not your average fifteen year old.
In fact, she was an experiment. A child tested on by doctors in a bare white hospital where other kids her age shared her experience. She doesn't remember her childhood, and she doesn't even know if she had parents- the world of the hospital is one that she's known of all along. The only other thing she remembers is floating peacefully in ebbing darkness, a large diving helmet sitting on her shoulders...
She never really interacted with the other kids, and when she did, they often disappeared the next day, never to be seen again. The doctors smiled their fake smiles at her as they injected her with liquids and things she did not understand. For years, she thought that this was the only life she would ever know, until she saw what really happened to the other kids.
For late one night, she heard screaming. She exited her room softly and followed the sound, and came upon a room. In it, a girl with crisp white hair was clawing at her face, as she was being held down by the nurses, who were wearing gas masks. The reason why? The girl's blood was everywhere, and it seems that they wanted to prevent themselves from contamination.
Sabitsuki, frightened by the sight, scurried away, but not before she saw the gaping hole of what had been the girl's face turn in her direction...
The fear woke her up from her mindless life in the hospital. She took whatever chance she had to talk to the other kids about it, and was surprised to know that they knew about it too. As for ways of getting out, the kids remarked that it was impossible. Also, they said, once your hair turns completely white and your eyes become red, you've lost yourself to the rust. The thing that was making them claw out their eyes like that. They didn't know if it was a disease or something else entirely, but they knew that the rust was bad news.
Sabitsuki's hair was already starting to whiten.
She quickly gathered as much information as she could, and eventually learned of a room where children were suspended in a tank of water as they were hooked up to a machine called Oreko, a huge and terrifying-looking thing that was black as night and contained lights that looked like they burned with fire. A diving helmet that the children were made to wear enabled them to breath in the water as the doctors tested them. Supposedly there was a door in that room which no one knew where it led to- possibly it was a way of escape.
She planned and planned, and one night, when her hair was white and her eyes almost a dark red, she decided to go for it. When the doctor bent down to give her the final injection, she leaped up and ran as fast as she could.
Of course, the doctors and nurses chased after her- but Sabitsuki was quick and small and knew her way around the hospital thanks to all of the kids she talked to. She managed to find her way to the room that contained Oreko, but there was one problem. The door that supposedly went outside was jammed. Sabitsuki, in a moment of haste, hid herself behind Oreko, putting on one of the diving helmets so that no one could hear her.
The doctors came in and looked around, but Oreko, being the huge machine that it was, hid the little Sabitsuki well. They eventually gave up, and Sabitsuki, from then on, believed that the machine had saved her from being found. She got the door open and made a dash outside.
It was snowing, and Sabitsuki eventually made it to a small city not too far away from the hospital. Coughing up blood and shivering with cold, she stole a comfy hat and managed to find a tight space in one of the alleys and stayed there for a while, trying to stay awake. A gang came around, intoxicated as they toted their firearms and cursed wildly, and suddenly noticed her nestled in the alley. They proceeded to drag her out, and being as weak as she was, she could only protest weakly as they roughly asked her who she was and why she was on their turf.
As one of them raised his fist to beat her, a voice interrupted them. It was that of a scrawny-looking kid with tousled black hair and a brown vest, and as they stood there in drunken surprise, the kid came over and got Sabitsuki out of there.
He called himself Smile, and he took Sabitsuki in. He was an orphan along with his very young sister, and the last foster, he said, had mistreated them, so they had run away to live out on their own. Sabitsuki was put to bed for a few days, and she somehow pulled through her weak state- and was very grateful to Smile for what he had done. The rust hadn't took control of her. But she never told him about what had happened in the hospital, and just went along with Smile's assumption that he was a foster kid too. The two stayed together for several years and became very good friends as they made their living stealing food and other such things on the street. When they were eventually found out, all three of the group were forced to attend public school to receive an education and had to stay with an cranky old lady who looked after them.
It was then Sabitsuki's troubles really began. Now a teenager, she had put away the memories of the hospital in the back of her mind, hoping she would never have to worry about them again. But the kids in school took notice of her white hair and red eyes and started to make fun of her. At first it was harmless teasing, but then the most popular and ruthless clique of girls at school, nicknamed the "Kaibutsu" (the monsters) caught on to it, and took it even further. Every day Sabitsuki would suffer insults, pranks, and whatnot by the group, to the point where she would skip class and go to the basement so she could cry to herself in peace.
Then she started seeing things. People around her started warping into shapes and faces she only saw in her nightmares. The Kaibutsu's faces started to bleed, and their laughter started sounding more and more like the laughter of hyenas on the hunt. The visions terrified Sabitsuki, but when she told Smile about them, he merely waved them away, saying that she was just imagining things. His flippant answer surprised hurt her, and she started doubting his feelings towards her and whether he really cared about her wellbeing.
And then she suddenly snapped.
The rust, that thing that had made those kids turn violent in the hospital, had been inside Sabitsuki all along. It came forth as an alternate personality within her, one that was ruthless and cold and cruel. Rust, as the personality called itself, went to the school with one of the knives from her caretaker's kitchen. As the Kaibutsu saw her, they greeted her with taunting grins. And Rust just grinned back.
Her white uniform was no longer white when she made it to the rooftop where Smile and his sister usually hung out. Smile greeted her, thinking she was Sabitsuki, but when she held up the knife and told him that he was a threat to her very existence, he realized that something was terribly wrong. Rust rushed towards his sister, intending to harm her, but Smile stood in her way, and as a result, got the skin around his eyes slashed as Rust made her attack. The reason why she attacked him? If Smile continued to be Sabitsuki's friend and make her happy, then Rust wouldn't exist. Rust only existed if Sabitsuki would fall into despair- she fed on her suffering, like a parasite that engorged itself on the feeling of pain and fear. But Sabitsuki was able to fight off Rust when the guilt of hurting Smile got through to her, and she ran away from the school, never intending to come back ever again. (You can see this event illustrated over here.)
It took a while, but Sabitsuki was able to lock up Rust where she would never come out. And, as an extra precaution, she locked herself in an a spare apartment with the necessary items she needed for her to survive. She decided to induce a dream-like state instead using a computer program called .flow, in which she could explore the world of her dreams.
And in the middle of the world of her dreams, she suddenly finds herself under a strange dome under the ocean...
[ Personality ] :
Sabitsuki is a very quiet and guarded soul- thanks to her experiences with Smile and the Kaibutsu in school, she's become rather stoic and hardly shares her feelings to anyone she first meets. Why does she need to say much if people are going to take advantage of her and her words? In this way, she is mistrustful of authority, especially doctors (meeting Dr. Alpha is not going to be a fun experience), and will often snap back at anyone who she feels is not a good person. And thanks to Smile, people who smile a little too much will get some of this treatment too. But there will be more guilt associated with these sort of meetings. She's basically a rebellious teenager who won't and will never answer to anybody. This also is a defense mechanism- she doesn't want to hurt anybody like she did with Smile.
She is very much a tomboy, and while she does wear a skirt, you will not find her going to clothing stores or playing with dolls. Sabitsuki did not have a childhood like everyone else- in fact, she didn't really have much of a childhood at all. And while others dream of becoming actors or astronauts, her main goal in life is to survive. She'll act tough and like an adult, and try to seem like she knows what she is doing. But on the inside is a far different picture.
Because, on the inside, she's still just a kid. A scared and lonely kid who wants to be accepted and make up for the childhood she never had. Being thrust into a world she didn't understand, she tried her best to be accepted. But thanks to Rust, she probably never will be. So, she isolates herself in her room, escaping the world which glares at her to worlds where neon creatures float along the ground. If she meets a nice-enough person, and they gradually get her to open up, she'll become a good, if a tad bit shy, friend who will try her best in whatever it takes. She takes joy in the littlest things, and is very curious about new things (after all, if she wasn't, why would she spend so much time exploring her dreams?). Overall, she has a kind soul, and would go and help somebody in danger if they needed it, especially children or people her age. But that does not mean she'll bend easily to anyone's whim- if she feels threatened, she won't hesitate to retaliate with violence.
Her alternate personality greatly unnerves her, but she keeps Rust locked inside her mind where she can never get out. She won't let anyone get hurt by Rust's hand ever again, not after what she did to Smile and the Kaibutsu. For Sabitsuki is not a bad person- she does not wish to hurt people unless she absolutely has to. The doctors may have wanted to change her for the worse, but Sabitsuki will never let that happen. Not while she is still alive and breathing.
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
When an unexplained event or something frightening occurs to a regular human being, their first instinct is to scream like a little girl and run away. Sabitsuki does exactly the opposite. Unless she knows she will not win, she will go and fight with whatever monster or danger is threatening her. While she does feel fear, her bravery often wins out in the end. Her unemotional take on most things allows her to make important decisions with a cool and logical mind. And she is has a very nimble mind- she can quickly form a way of escape if the going gets tough. Put all of those things together, and you practically have a warrior of a girl who would not balk at the appearance of danger.
But, as said before, Sabitsuki is still very young. And while she has her effects like her steel pipe to defend her, she is just a young girl who could barely put a dent in the hide of an aligator. Also, she is extremely touchy when it comes to things like seeing sick children, doctors, bullying, and other such things that remind her of her past. She'll immediatedly turn cold upon witnessing such things, and will try her best to get rid of these triggers or get out of there so she won't see them. In fact, her stoic demeanor doesn't win her many friends in the end, and although she can be nice and kind, it is only until she decides to trust someone that she'll be that way. And it will take her a while to trust anyone due to her fear that what happened in her past will repeat itself even though Rust is locked away.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
Since she is coming from the middle of her .flow session, Sabitsuki will be able to use the 24 effects which she has gathered throughout her dream worlds. Effects are items that can be applied to Sabitsuki as items or appearances she can use. The Dress effect gives her a black dress, while the Watering Can effect can make it rain in a certain area, etc.. Most of these effects are cosmetic and serve no real purpose, so she won't be using them much.
You can find all the effects and what they do listed here.
Also, Rust will not be making an appearance in Vatheon unless a curse or something incredibly triggering occurs to Sabitsuki to make it so. She's buried in there pretty deep. :I
[ Sample ] :
[There is a young teenage girl with short unruly white hair standing in the middle of the plaza with a bloodied steel pipe in her hand.]
[Her dark red eyes sweep the area, narrowed in something akin to distrust. She is used to underwater worlds, what with her occasional voyages into her own dreams, but this place felt entirely too real.]
This doesn't look anything like Oreko's home...
[Her voice is quiet and subdued. She shakes her head and, with a quick movement, pinches her cheek.]
[Nothing happens. Her eyes widen, and she tries it again, but she still is here, in this world which is very much real. And it produces a tight feeling in her chest- she wants to get out she wants to get out WHY ISN'T SHE GETTING OUT-]
...What? How can...how can this be possible?
[Whatever this is, this isn't a dream. And it scares her to no end. But she must be brave. With a serious look, she straightens herself and proceeds forward to explore her surroundings.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] :
DERP DERP WHY IS .FLOW SO CONFUSING DERP and I apologize for the TL;DR D:
[ Character's Age ] : It's not certain, but Sabitsuki appears to be in her teenage years. For game purposes I will go with 15 years old.
[ Series ] : .flow
[ Canon Point ] : Before the end of the game when Rust takes over
[ History ] :
.flow is a game that was made to feel like a dream. There is no quest, no purpose you have to strive for to win, no dialogue- everything you encounter is not based logically on anything you're used to in a game. Really, the major part of it is just exploring the world of the dream and deciding to do with whatever you find. (There are ways to "win" the game, but you're never told how to, and most find the ending by pure accident.)
Therefore, like a dream, there is no logical story behind it. There are many clues strewn within the worlds you see, like the world of the hospital, or the fact that one of the worlds is literally a school where white-haired children with bloody faces chase after you, laughing maniacally. But in the end, there is no definite answer as to what sort of story Sabitsuki had. Therefore, many players form their own opinions and headcanons as to who Sabitsuki is and what exactly her dreams mean. I will try my best to give the most accurate history I can divine from the symbols and imagery of Sabitsuki's world.
You can find descriptions of the game and NPCs encountered over here.
------------------------------
Sabitsuki is not your average fifteen year old.
In fact, she was an experiment. A child tested on by doctors in a bare white hospital where other kids her age shared her experience. She doesn't remember her childhood, and she doesn't even know if she had parents- the world of the hospital is one that she's known of all along. The only other thing she remembers is floating peacefully in ebbing darkness, a large diving helmet sitting on her shoulders...
She never really interacted with the other kids, and when she did, they often disappeared the next day, never to be seen again. The doctors smiled their fake smiles at her as they injected her with liquids and things she did not understand. For years, she thought that this was the only life she would ever know, until she saw what really happened to the other kids.
For late one night, she heard screaming. She exited her room softly and followed the sound, and came upon a room. In it, a girl with crisp white hair was clawing at her face, as she was being held down by the nurses, who were wearing gas masks. The reason why? The girl's blood was everywhere, and it seems that they wanted to prevent themselves from contamination.
Sabitsuki, frightened by the sight, scurried away, but not before she saw the gaping hole of what had been the girl's face turn in her direction...
The fear woke her up from her mindless life in the hospital. She took whatever chance she had to talk to the other kids about it, and was surprised to know that they knew about it too. As for ways of getting out, the kids remarked that it was impossible. Also, they said, once your hair turns completely white and your eyes become red, you've lost yourself to the rust. The thing that was making them claw out their eyes like that. They didn't know if it was a disease or something else entirely, but they knew that the rust was bad news.
Sabitsuki's hair was already starting to whiten.
She quickly gathered as much information as she could, and eventually learned of a room where children were suspended in a tank of water as they were hooked up to a machine called Oreko, a huge and terrifying-looking thing that was black as night and contained lights that looked like they burned with fire. A diving helmet that the children were made to wear enabled them to breath in the water as the doctors tested them. Supposedly there was a door in that room which no one knew where it led to- possibly it was a way of escape.
She planned and planned, and one night, when her hair was white and her eyes almost a dark red, she decided to go for it. When the doctor bent down to give her the final injection, she leaped up and ran as fast as she could.
Of course, the doctors and nurses chased after her- but Sabitsuki was quick and small and knew her way around the hospital thanks to all of the kids she talked to. She managed to find her way to the room that contained Oreko, but there was one problem. The door that supposedly went outside was jammed. Sabitsuki, in a moment of haste, hid herself behind Oreko, putting on one of the diving helmets so that no one could hear her.
The doctors came in and looked around, but Oreko, being the huge machine that it was, hid the little Sabitsuki well. They eventually gave up, and Sabitsuki, from then on, believed that the machine had saved her from being found. She got the door open and made a dash outside.
It was snowing, and Sabitsuki eventually made it to a small city not too far away from the hospital. Coughing up blood and shivering with cold, she stole a comfy hat and managed to find a tight space in one of the alleys and stayed there for a while, trying to stay awake. A gang came around, intoxicated as they toted their firearms and cursed wildly, and suddenly noticed her nestled in the alley. They proceeded to drag her out, and being as weak as she was, she could only protest weakly as they roughly asked her who she was and why she was on their turf.
As one of them raised his fist to beat her, a voice interrupted them. It was that of a scrawny-looking kid with tousled black hair and a brown vest, and as they stood there in drunken surprise, the kid came over and got Sabitsuki out of there.
He called himself Smile, and he took Sabitsuki in. He was an orphan along with his very young sister, and the last foster, he said, had mistreated them, so they had run away to live out on their own. Sabitsuki was put to bed for a few days, and she somehow pulled through her weak state- and was very grateful to Smile for what he had done. The rust hadn't took control of her. But she never told him about what had happened in the hospital, and just went along with Smile's assumption that he was a foster kid too. The two stayed together for several years and became very good friends as they made their living stealing food and other such things on the street. When they were eventually found out, all three of the group were forced to attend public school to receive an education and had to stay with an cranky old lady who looked after them.
It was then Sabitsuki's troubles really began. Now a teenager, she had put away the memories of the hospital in the back of her mind, hoping she would never have to worry about them again. But the kids in school took notice of her white hair and red eyes and started to make fun of her. At first it was harmless teasing, but then the most popular and ruthless clique of girls at school, nicknamed the "Kaibutsu" (the monsters) caught on to it, and took it even further. Every day Sabitsuki would suffer insults, pranks, and whatnot by the group, to the point where she would skip class and go to the basement so she could cry to herself in peace.
Then she started seeing things. People around her started warping into shapes and faces she only saw in her nightmares. The Kaibutsu's faces started to bleed, and their laughter started sounding more and more like the laughter of hyenas on the hunt. The visions terrified Sabitsuki, but when she told Smile about them, he merely waved them away, saying that she was just imagining things. His flippant answer surprised hurt her, and she started doubting his feelings towards her and whether he really cared about her wellbeing.
And then she suddenly snapped.
The rust, that thing that had made those kids turn violent in the hospital, had been inside Sabitsuki all along. It came forth as an alternate personality within her, one that was ruthless and cold and cruel. Rust, as the personality called itself, went to the school with one of the knives from her caretaker's kitchen. As the Kaibutsu saw her, they greeted her with taunting grins. And Rust just grinned back.
Her white uniform was no longer white when she made it to the rooftop where Smile and his sister usually hung out. Smile greeted her, thinking she was Sabitsuki, but when she held up the knife and told him that he was a threat to her very existence, he realized that something was terribly wrong. Rust rushed towards his sister, intending to harm her, but Smile stood in her way, and as a result, got the skin around his eyes slashed as Rust made her attack. The reason why she attacked him? If Smile continued to be Sabitsuki's friend and make her happy, then Rust wouldn't exist. Rust only existed if Sabitsuki would fall into despair- she fed on her suffering, like a parasite that engorged itself on the feeling of pain and fear. But Sabitsuki was able to fight off Rust when the guilt of hurting Smile got through to her, and she ran away from the school, never intending to come back ever again. (You can see this event illustrated over here.)
It took a while, but Sabitsuki was able to lock up Rust where she would never come out. And, as an extra precaution, she locked herself in an a spare apartment with the necessary items she needed for her to survive. She decided to induce a dream-like state instead using a computer program called .flow, in which she could explore the world of her dreams.
And in the middle of the world of her dreams, she suddenly finds herself under a strange dome under the ocean...
[ Personality ] :
Sabitsuki is a very quiet and guarded soul- thanks to her experiences with Smile and the Kaibutsu in school, she's become rather stoic and hardly shares her feelings to anyone she first meets. Why does she need to say much if people are going to take advantage of her and her words? In this way, she is mistrustful of authority, especially doctors (meeting Dr. Alpha is not going to be a fun experience), and will often snap back at anyone who she feels is not a good person. And thanks to Smile, people who smile a little too much will get some of this treatment too. But there will be more guilt associated with these sort of meetings. She's basically a rebellious teenager who won't and will never answer to anybody. This also is a defense mechanism- she doesn't want to hurt anybody like she did with Smile.
She is very much a tomboy, and while she does wear a skirt, you will not find her going to clothing stores or playing with dolls. Sabitsuki did not have a childhood like everyone else- in fact, she didn't really have much of a childhood at all. And while others dream of becoming actors or astronauts, her main goal in life is to survive. She'll act tough and like an adult, and try to seem like she knows what she is doing. But on the inside is a far different picture.
Because, on the inside, she's still just a kid. A scared and lonely kid who wants to be accepted and make up for the childhood she never had. Being thrust into a world she didn't understand, she tried her best to be accepted. But thanks to Rust, she probably never will be. So, she isolates herself in her room, escaping the world which glares at her to worlds where neon creatures float along the ground. If she meets a nice-enough person, and they gradually get her to open up, she'll become a good, if a tad bit shy, friend who will try her best in whatever it takes. She takes joy in the littlest things, and is very curious about new things (after all, if she wasn't, why would she spend so much time exploring her dreams?). Overall, she has a kind soul, and would go and help somebody in danger if they needed it, especially children or people her age. But that does not mean she'll bend easily to anyone's whim- if she feels threatened, she won't hesitate to retaliate with violence.
Her alternate personality greatly unnerves her, but she keeps Rust locked inside her mind where she can never get out. She won't let anyone get hurt by Rust's hand ever again, not after what she did to Smile and the Kaibutsu. For Sabitsuki is not a bad person- she does not wish to hurt people unless she absolutely has to. The doctors may have wanted to change her for the worse, but Sabitsuki will never let that happen. Not while she is still alive and breathing.
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
When an unexplained event or something frightening occurs to a regular human being, their first instinct is to scream like a little girl and run away. Sabitsuki does exactly the opposite. Unless she knows she will not win, she will go and fight with whatever monster or danger is threatening her. While she does feel fear, her bravery often wins out in the end. Her unemotional take on most things allows her to make important decisions with a cool and logical mind. And she is has a very nimble mind- she can quickly form a way of escape if the going gets tough. Put all of those things together, and you practically have a warrior of a girl who would not balk at the appearance of danger.
But, as said before, Sabitsuki is still very young. And while she has her effects like her steel pipe to defend her, she is just a young girl who could barely put a dent in the hide of an aligator. Also, she is extremely touchy when it comes to things like seeing sick children, doctors, bullying, and other such things that remind her of her past. She'll immediatedly turn cold upon witnessing such things, and will try her best to get rid of these triggers or get out of there so she won't see them. In fact, her stoic demeanor doesn't win her many friends in the end, and although she can be nice and kind, it is only until she decides to trust someone that she'll be that way. And it will take her a while to trust anyone due to her fear that what happened in her past will repeat itself even though Rust is locked away.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
Since she is coming from the middle of her .flow session, Sabitsuki will be able to use the 24 effects which she has gathered throughout her dream worlds. Effects are items that can be applied to Sabitsuki as items or appearances she can use. The Dress effect gives her a black dress, while the Watering Can effect can make it rain in a certain area, etc.. Most of these effects are cosmetic and serve no real purpose, so she won't be using them much.
You can find all the effects and what they do listed here.
Also, Rust will not be making an appearance in Vatheon unless a curse or something incredibly triggering occurs to Sabitsuki to make it so. She's buried in there pretty deep. :I
[ Sample ] :
[There is a young teenage girl with short unruly white hair standing in the middle of the plaza with a bloodied steel pipe in her hand.]
[Her dark red eyes sweep the area, narrowed in something akin to distrust. She is used to underwater worlds, what with her occasional voyages into her own dreams, but this place felt entirely too real.]
This doesn't look anything like Oreko's home...
[Her voice is quiet and subdued. She shakes her head and, with a quick movement, pinches her cheek.]
[Nothing happens. Her eyes widen, and she tries it again, but she still is here, in this world which is very much real. And it produces a tight feeling in her chest- she wants to get out she wants to get out WHY ISN'T SHE GETTING OUT-]
...What? How can...how can this be possible?
[Whatever this is, this isn't a dream. And it scares her to no end. But she must be brave. With a serious look, she straightens herself and proceeds forward to explore her surroundings.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] :
DERP DERP WHY IS .FLOW SO CONFUSING DERP and I apologize for the TL;DR D: