app for tlv

[onlyhearmusic]

Player Name: Aisu
Player Contact: PMs to journal, plurk or discord upon request
Other Characters Currently In-Game: N/A

Character Name: Dennis Collins aka the Butcher
Series: Malevolent (audio drama)
Age: Arthur/John estimates him to be in his mid 40s to early 50s; however, CoC timeline math would make him more like 38-41 years of age.
From When?: Some time post Part 35. The Butcher does not die in canon timeline but there are certainly plenty of good reasons for him to do so in his world and career. Like, for instance, becoming collateral damage for an occult ritual or some other occult occurrence that Larson, the Butcher's current employer, initiates in order to get at Arthur as the event that kills him.

Inmate Justification: He's a sadistic murderer for hire that enjoys having fun hunting, torturing, and killing his prey. He can really only go in one direction (up) from here or remain the same level of awful forever so... good luck redeeming this one, unlucky warden chosen.

Arrival: Against his will.

Abilities/Powers: No proposal for limits/reductions as he's a normal human being with no special powers (as far as we all currently know). His skill set is as follows:

🗡️ Firearms proficiency
🗡️ Dagger/knife/sharp implement proficiency
🗡️ Melee combat/grappling proficiency
🗡️ Stealth proficiency
🗡️ Skilled at manipulation/deceiving others
🗡️ Uses disguises and ruses to get what he wants when needed.
🗡️ Uses crafty ploys and deceptions to kill his targets when necessary, including making kills look like accidents or natural causes.
🗡️ Clever, streetwise, thinks on his feet, learns his lessons quickly, and is well read.
🗡️ Has survived for this long in a dangerous career... and escaped death by supernatural causes on more than one occasion (which says a lot in this canon tbh).
🗡️ Has a lovely singing voice.

Inmate Information:

Criminal history in a nutshell: patricide, wartime atrocities, multiple counts of murder, dismemberment, torturing victims, kidnapping, theft, deceit, manipulation, complete and utter disregard for anyone else's life and well being.

Major events
Abusive father and patricide: Dennis suffered under the rule of his father growing up, beaten for his perceived failures and being over-disciplined during his youth. This ended when Dennis finally killed his father with a sharp implement and watched his old man bleed out.
Outcome: Dennis takes failure very hard, and he self disciplines in a manner similar to his father's abuse whenever he does something wrong. Calling him a failure to his face will result in his immediate and obvious anger. He also takes offense to father figures and does not trust them, and will happily kill them if given a reason/chance.

Wartime: Collins went to war during the First World War. He survived the horror.
Outcome: He learned to kill with accuracy and proficiency. He got many kills beneath his belt and discovered that he enjoyed the thrill of it, the feeling of being alive because he was better than his enemy, and that he especially liked being close to his victim so he could watch the life leave their eyes. Memento mori.

Killer for hire: Collins took his skills and his love of death and made it into a profitable living. He enjoyed every hunt he completed successfully and gained a reputation of being efficient and ruthless and took on the moniker of 'the Butcher.'
Outcome: He has been hired for all manner of illicit jobs and enjoys the act of hunting, outsmarting, torturing, and harming others. He's very dedicated to his job and equates the hunt to falling in love with each and every 'animal' that he kills. His sort of fun consists of torturing his victims and it's clear he likes to watch the effect he has on them as he seems a bit put off when Arthur Lester can't seem to see him properly.
Most of his offenses are linked to this lifestyle he chose early on. Including but probably not limited to: multiple counts of murder, dismemberment, torturing victims, kidnapping, theft, deceit, and manipulation.

The Witch's Mark: As Collins puts this little story, this set of jobs was a fucking circus. He's hired by one man to get a suitcase from someone getting off a train; he retrieves it by killing the man and sawing off his hand to take the suitcase cuffed to his wrist. Then another man hires him to kidnap the first man's daughter (in retaliation, not knowing that it was the Butcher that performed the thievery) and Collins does it, drops off the young woman without a care. Then the first man hires him again, not to just find the daughter, but to kill her. He captures and tortures a pair of detectives looking for the missing girl. She had escaped the person he'd left her with and run off. When he realizes the detectives didn't even know the girl was still alive, he gets ready to kill them. The detectives escape their bonds while he's out of the room preparing and they get away but Collins didn't see it as a loss; instead, he cleverly followed them to where they thought to find the missing girl. After watching a coven of witches burn one of the detectives while he was still alive, Collins...shoots the head witch and angers the rest. Somehow, he manages to escape the coven's wrath.
Outcome: HE SURVIVED AN ENCOUNTER WITH A COVEN OF WITCHES. SOMEHOW. Anyway, he's seen some occult shit, has been hired by occultists to do strange things now, and has just accepted it as normal in Arkham (and other places). He has a blasé attitude towards occultism and monsters. Memento mori. He'll either die from it or he'll grow stronger from surviving it.

Malevolent: He's hired to kill Arthur Lester. It's a fun hunt for him and he revels in it. Unfortunately though this prey proves more wily than he anticipates and not only does Lester get away with his life, but the Butcher ends up being arrested and taken downtown.
Outcome: He has an unhealthy fascination with Arthur Lester and fully intends to kill the man one day.

Defining traits
-Once more with feeling: he's a sadist who enjoys the hunt, torture, and murder of his victims.
-He usually passes himself off with a faux-lightness in encounters, playing the cheery Irish rogue and being quite charming about it.
-But in his own words his temper is very thin these days. And as Arthur puts it, the Butcher is roiling with anger just beneath the surface, only pretending to be calm in order to hide a blind hatred.
-Thus he's quite good at deceit and the manipulation of others, but underneath his cleverness there's a vicious wolf-like animal just waiting to get its teeth wet.
-He has major daddy issues, and big issues with failure and being perceived as a failure. His self disciplinary actions include self-harm and abuse due to his father's influence.
-He has a fairly blasé attitude towards most things that do not interest him or do not impress him. This includes occult and supernatural related things, having seen enough of it to not be overly affected anymore. That, and it's entirely probable possible that he's already insane enough that eldritch things don't affect him quite the way they should.
-Not much of one for political machinations, major worldviews, following laws, or really anything that doesn't involve him doing his job. If it doesn't interest him or give him pleasure, he doesn't care.
-He likes a good challenge. Proving his skills and finishing a job are important to him, and he enjoys a good chase just as much as the satisfying kill at the end. The more clever an opponent the more likely he'll derive pleasure from beating them. However, to reiterate, failure is not an option and he will react poorly to being interrupted or prevented from completing his goals.
-Proud of his talents and skills. Willing to talk about them and his past jobs. In fact, he loves to hear himself talk. And he likes to relive old glories through the telling of them. Even better if he then gets to relive, literally, the deeds with new prey to have his fun with.
-Enjoys a good bit of reading, and is particularly fond of poetry, philosophy, and thrillers and mystery (both fiction and true crime). He considers himself well read.
-Loves music, and can often be heard humming, whistling, and/or singing a tune.

Path to Redemption:

What does your character need to change about themselves, and what sorts of milestones do you envision them needing to reach before they're ready for graduation? Everything. The Butcher would first and foremost probably need to learn empathy for others as he currently has none. His favorite phrase is "memento mori" and he uses it to justify his life as a killer. He would need to get over this conception, as well as learn to care about others in any form or capacity, and be taught either how to actually give a damn so that killing lost its appeal or forced to find another way to live so that he could (at the least) pretend to be a normal human being capable of empathy and less desire to hurt other people.

How will they react to being on the Barge? He will not at all enjoy being placed upon the Barge and the concept of redemption does not sit well with him. Though not particularly religious himself, he's Irish as Irish can be and raised Catholic, and will use the excuse that the act of redemption isn't for mortals to define or give but only a gift from God. In reality though he just has no desire nor reason to redeem himself nor change his ways as he enjoys his murderous lifestyle and the perks that come with it. He's a borderline sociopath ngl.

How will they react to being wardened? What sorts of wardening styles would they be likely to respond best to, and conversely, what wardening styles would likely be ineffective or unhelpful? He won't take well to being given to a warden, does not like the idea losing full autonomy, and it's entirely likely that it will equate too closely to the 'care' of his father which will trigger him into an aggressive state more often than not. With that in mind, strong disciplinary actions may inflict an involuntary impulse to obey and please at first but will ultimately do more harm than good as Collins processes what's done and inevitably retaliates with more aggression and deadly force. Meanwhile, weaker actions will likely be scoffed at, made fun of, and easily ignored as Collins has a tendency to look down upon weaker people and laugh in their faces for any sign of ignorance or stupidity. And he easily brushes aside anything he doesn't find relevant to his own interests.

What methods can a warden use to get through to them, and what are some ideas for things that might trigger or motivate them to change? I'm struggling to think of anything that would work to get Collins to actually change other than really digging deep (into his psyche and especially his past/childhood) and never giving up. He is, unfortunately, quite fond of his day-job as an assassin. He does like cleverness and sly opponents so beating him at his own game is at least a good way to catch and hold his attention, so that's...a starting point. After talking with a friend, the idea of playing to his ego to get him to reach for and hit goals could be a way to go, as well as setting those goals and forcing him to feel like he has to reach them to gain something he might want. He hates being called a failure so that's not a good idea but working around that (making him feel like he needs to complete something so as not to be a failure) would probably work on him. He is quite fond of music so that can be a low tier reward for a bit although it will only go so far (as Arthur did learn it's more a temporary distraction than a way to escape).

History:

Dennis Collins comes from a dissatisfactory family life during his youth, with an abusive father that did not love him despite the fact that he claimed to love his father. Always called a failure no matter how hard he tried, and beaten for it (and possibly other reasons). He eventually killed his father with a sharp implement and watched the man bleed out.

He then became a skilled and efficient killer for hire, starting off with careful (and theatrical) policies to be contacted and hired. He enjoyed the theatrics when he was younger, always leaving a calling card at the scene of his crimes. He became known as the Butcher and is well known for his proficiency as a ruthless hitman. Eventually he gave up the special contact methods and theatrical showmanship but kept the nickname and reputation as he continued to do well at his chosen profession.

In the winter of 1934 he was hired by Larson to kill Arthur Lester and "make it painful"--excruciatingly so. Collins went after Arthur in the train to New York as instructed and lured Arthur to the back of the train with a clever manipulation; however, Arthur figured it out just in the nick of time and avoided death by the Butcher's hand. Deploying his own clever ruse, Arthur left Collins stranded on the caboose, decoupled from the rest of the train, abandoned on the tracks.

Collins made his way to New York and eventually tracked down Arthur. An elaborate chase scene occurred wherein the Butcher eventually captured his prey through deception and manipulation. He tied Arthur to a chair and left him tied up in the basement when he was told to complete his job and kill the witness brought to the nearby hospital. He used a disguise as an orderly to get close to his injured target but Arthur, now free from the basement chair via supernatural interference and desperate to save his father-in-law, revealed himself and started a repartee with the Butcher. Eventually a detective sneaked up on the Butcher and wrestled with him, and another bystander knocked out Collins with a blunt object to the head. Collins was arrested and taken to be booked. That's the end of current known canon for Dennis Collins.

Added: The future event that has the Butcher brought to the Barge... I'm sort of imagining after a brief stint in jail that he ends up in a situation where his current employer includes him as collateral damage to get at Arthur since there's no reason for Larson to care about the Butcher after failing at his job for so many times, and he really wants Arthur to suffer. Anyway, crazy cultist finally gets the Butcher, news at eleven. I'm gonna say he hasn't lived through it yet but it's imminent with the path he's on.

Sample Network Entry: His toplevel tdm link below has a network entry, and this thread specifically is network. And then this happened with Ritcher.

Sample RP: TDM Toplevel | TDM Thread with Yellow | TDM Thread with Aya Rindo

Special Notes: Not particularly.

Comments

CANON UPDATE

[onlyhearmusic]

Canon Point: The Butcher has been canon updated to the end of Part 40.

He has now lived through his death (now canon!) which ironically enough did in fact involve Larson and his cult to a certain degree. While not afraid of most monsters, Collins does now have a subconscious fear of godlike entities such as the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods like Kayne. He would love to find a way to kill them. In particular, his motivating factor for graduating is now to exact revenge on Kayne for the entity killing him.



Inmate Information:

Major Event, Mid-Part 40, The Cult of the Fallen Star: It was revealed that Arthur and Noel recruited the Butcher to help them go up against Larson and the Cult of the Fallen Star. Collins turned on Larson without hesitation and sang joyfully as the chaos began, happily shooting down the monstrous creatures that Larson sicced on the three after the reveal that the Butcher was on Arthur's side. He stayed behind to fend off more of the monsters as the other two went after a fleeing Larson. Butcher had no problems finishing off the remaining monsters before following after the other two. He found Noel, left behind wounded, and picked the detective up to get him to aid. He ran into Arthur confronting Larson and mentioned that the detective needed help quick because he wouldn't last long with his wound.

Outcome: As pointed out by the Butcher himself, Arthur Lester seemed to finally understand the Butcher better now that Lester had given him this opportunity. Collins does not need anything from Arthur Lester for graduation as that issue has been resolved canonically. Though he would benefit greatly from someone else coming to understand him on his terms and point of view so as to replicate that feeling of being understood--it felt good, and he would like to feel that again. I think it would go a long way into getting him to understand empathy and desire to connect to other people.

Additionally, the reveal that the Butcher did not leave a wounded and dying man behind gives another view into Collins's psyche. It shows that despite Collins's flippant attitude and ease to turn on a former employer, he does have some loyalty. It is likely that he has more loyalty to these people in particular because they gave him something he desired (a good fight and thrilling adventure) and did not arrogantly look down upon him (albeit begrudgingly, they respected him and recognized his cleverness). I would also like to link this kind of "leave no man behind" loyalty to his days in the military. However, since this loyalty felt like to him that it got him killed he would benefit from some reinforcement that loyalty has benefits. Talking about this event or confronting Noel about what happened would be good for him to get past the unfortunate outcome of "in the end, loyalty just gets you killed."


Major Event, End of Part 40, Death: The Butcher died from an Outer God's snap of the fingers. At this time the Butcher's inner music was silenced and after a few seconds Collins's head exploded ending his life instantly.

Outcome: The Butcher returned to the Barge sans music in his head. This resulted in an attempt to bring it back via killing, but ultimately had no effect. John Doe returned the Butcher's music so it is officially supernatural in nature. Collins's death also gave him a subconscious fear of powerful godlike entities and a desire for revenge against the one that killed him that may prove useful for motivating him to want to graduate rather than actively working against graduating.



Path to Redemption:

How Collins needs change in order to graduate: The Butcher's main step to graduation still revolves around him learning to care for other people and creating meaningful connections that show him an alternate path in life. Through his slow, slow evolution it has come to light that Collins's does not wish to compromise his entire being in order to graduate--in fact, in may be better that he does not entirely change his habits or perhaps even his profession as such a huge change would feel to him as though he has been broken and pieced together by someone else's will. He has come to the conclusion that he does not want to be broken or controlled, that he wants to continue to fight to be his own person even if his views are a little skewed and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It suits him. He needs to feel in control of himself as a person and not be confined to a specific mold like his father forceably tried to do to him as a child. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it gives him more freedom, however it does need to be tempered by a conscience and self-desire to enjoy more out of life and connections to other people that make him happy but are also allowed to be their own person without him trying to control or abandoning them once things get too complicated for his comfort. There can still be some compromise on how or why he goes about killing, perhaps shifting his profession slightly by helping the innocent rather than killing indiscriminately, or producing a bond with someone that would lead him to killing with a (good) purpose. That will come with his learning of sympathy over time. Ultimately, now his big goal is to learn compromise, compassion (if even just a little), and control without self-harm. He needs to learn to love both himself more (in a healthy manner rather than job-related arrogant one) and other people for themselves rather than what they can be for him. Then maybe he can graduate and work towards other goals.