S058 - Larsen, Lillian "Lily"

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Name: Lillian Larsen
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: Senior
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Directing, horror genre, creative writing, alternative culture, the macabre

Appearance: Lillian stands at 5'5" and weighs 142 lbs, with most of her weight going to her hips resulting in something of a pear-shaped physique. She is of Danish ancestry as made obvious by her fair skin, bright blue eyes and light blonde hair, which is stylised into a sidecut with the left side cut short and the right side reaching down to her shoulders. Her ovular face is framed by a round button nose, bottom-heavy lips and a small handful of freckles that dot her otherwise clear complexion. Whilst on special occasions she might experiment with different make-up styles and has considered dying her hair in the past, she has thus far stuck with her natural hair colour and usually only wears light foundation and black eyeliner.

She has a tendency to wear black on most days, the day of the trip being no exception. In addition to a long black t-shirt and slate pants, she also opted to wear a black insulated jacket, fingerless gloves, a pair of black boots and a distinctive red-wool hat with ear flaps and a white pom-pom.

Biography: Hailing originally from Philadelphia, Lillian Larsen's parents are an eccentric pair to say the least. Her father Daniel is a grizzly stage technician whose biggest claim to fame was working behind the scenes at an ECW PPV, her mother Terri a retired goth girl turned make-up artist. The two met during the late 90s and quickly fell for one another, resulting in Lillian's birth in 2003 and her brother Jerry in 2006.

Lillian (Or Lily as her friends often call her) has always maintained a healthy relationship with her family, who despite their various eccentricities have been about as stable and loving as could be expected, her parents eager to support their children however they can. Though her relationship with her younger brother has recently entered something of a sour patch, with Jerry going through a mid-teen phase of surliness, even that has never devolved beyond what is expected of a sibling rivalry.

Unsurprisingly, her parents' interests and curious backgrounds ended up having an effect on Lily at a young age, particularly with regards to her early creative leanings. Whilst her parents are both technicians, Lily has always had a vivid imagination and a lust for larger-than-life tales, forever filled with a desire to tell stories in one fashion or another. For the most part this has manifested in a love for writing fiction, something she's done consistently since she first learned to spell. Ranging from short stories and poems, to cheesy fanfictions of her favourite shows, to countless unfinished novels that never made it past the opening prologue. Though the quality of her writing has varied over the years, one thing that notably hasn't are the themes she finds herself exploring, which more often than not tend to be on the macabre side.

In stark contrast to her friendly and light-hearted demeanor, her taste in media and creative inklings are notably grim in comparison to how she carries herself. Her stories always seem to involve themes of death, the occult and other similarly dark subjects. A lot of this stemmed from early exposure to the kind of movies and music her parents grew up on, starting with the works of Tim Burton and Jhonen Vasquez before growing to love cheesy horror movies. The horror genre in particular has quickly grown to be a favourite of hers, with Halloween being her favourite holiday of the year and most of her creative endeavours being horror themed to some degree or another.

Whenever she's been asked why she finds so much enjoyment in horror movies and exploring such grim subject matter, her answers tend to be somewhat inconsistent, as if she's never been entirely sure how to explain it herself. A lot of it comes from an inherent rejection of the mainstream, partly stemming from her parents' influence but also coming about naturally in response to early experiences with sanitization at the school she attended as a child. As for the macabre, she'd always describe it as more of a fascination than an adoration, a natural curiosity to help overcome those feelings of fear and revulsion most experience when exploring such subjects.

Unsurprisingly, her fascination with dark subjects has often resulted in concerned meetings between her parents and teachers, though her parents are quick to defend her curiosity. Indeed the only time her parents ever became concerned was when she used to read up about Survival of the Fittest, a subject that she quickly abandoned when the horrific reality of the events she was reading about proved to be a step too far for her liking.

Truth be told despite her fascination with the macabre, Lily herself is perfectly happy and content with her lot in life, always considerate of others and far more stable headed than most would assume of someone with her particular interests. If anything, in times of duress she's usually the levellest head in the room, with a natural calmness about her that tends to only break when she's nearing a deadline or hit by a bad case of writer's block. She's also well-known amongst her peers for being a good people person, empathetic towards others and compassionate to a fault, seemingly always ready to laugh things off rather than form long lasting grudges. That being said, she's also been known to be fickle with her ideas and passions, and can be somewhat indecisive at times without outside assistance.

Over the course of her childhood, two events in particular would have long-lasting effects on her life. The first being when her family took her on holiday to Northern Europe when she was 12, visiting distant relatives in Denmark from her father's side of the family and allowing her to discover her cultural heritage. It was during this trip that she acquired her favourite hat, a red woollen winter hat she received as a present from her great aunt Lisbet. It was also during this trip that her family visited England, where a fateful afternoon in Camden Market would inspire her to start exploring various avenues of alternative culture throughout her teens.

Though she's never really settled on a particular subculture or a desire to adopt any particular labels, over the years she's experimented with various fashions and styles as befitting her interests, as well developing her taste in music to include a wide variety of genres. Whether it's emo rock, electropunk, symphonic metal, industrial, goth and so on, she's explored a wide variety of styles before eventually settling on a casual appreciation for all the above, though not without a lingering desire to explore them more thoroughly when she goes to college.

The other event that would have a significant impact on her life was when her family decided to move from Philadelphia to Salem, Massachusetts in 2016, on account of a high-paying job opportunity for her mother that she couldn't turn down. As much as she loved Philadelphia, she couldn't deny how excited she was to live in a city with a history as interesting as Salem's, quickly touring various historical sites relevant to the infamous witch trials. As if that wasn't enough, she would be thrilled to discover that they lived just down the road from the Satanic Temple, which she was also quick to visit and take selfies in front of.

This however would result in an unintentionally awkward first impression with her new classmates at John Endecott Memorial Academy, who would quickly pick up on her curious interests thanks to her social media profile. Not helping matters was when she was caught bringing the Satanic Bible to school, leading to rumours of Lily being a Satanist that have persisted to this day. In truth she's always considered herself to be irreligious, though nevertheless fascinated in the subject from an academic point of view, not that this has stopped many of her classmates calling her Lilith the Satanist. Whilst she initially found this annoying, over the years she's grown to embrace the nickname, and after endearing herself to her classmates nowadays it's more often said in jest amongst her friends rather than used as a mean-spirited insult.

With regards to her school life, she maintains a good balance of a healthy social life and decent grades, with a small circle of close friends from her drama and film classes. Indeed, it was during drama and film that she would discover her greatest passion: direction. Having always been something of a people person with a creative imagination, she has a natural talent for directing creative projects, having shot a handful of short films during her late teens and assisting with the various school productions she's joined. As she enters her senior year, she's finally made up her mind about what career she wants to pursue, her desire now being to study film and direct cheesy horror movies to inspire future generations. As such, she has already began to send out applications to various colleges and film schools across the country, with the hope of studying Film shortly after completing high school.

Advantages: Lillian's people skills will help with making allies in the early game, as well as defusing potential threats. Her familiarity with macabre subjects mixed with her level-headed nature will make her harder to crack than most.
Disadvantages: Lillian's compassionate side will likely hinder her chances in the long term, and those who only know of her as Lilith the Satanist may be quick to assume she means ill intent. Her indecisiveness could also end badly when quick decisions are key to survival.

Designated Number: Student No. 058

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Designated Weapon: Urumi

Conclusion: Artists have a storied history in our game, as do lovers of the macabre. Will you join the ones who made SOTF their big break, S058? - Tracen Danya