achates infopost code

[flickerback]

…and by “code” I mean Basically Everything, It’s All There, I just feel weird about posting this on my actual journal prematurely LOL

---

for <achates> - day 0

Yuri (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

art by M井 (opens in new tab)

Anime teenage girl from an extremely normal* dating sim; the wallflower option. (*See content warnings below.) Described as “mature.” Softspoken Only quiet when she wants to be, passionate; tends to be anxious but has a normal amount of fear for the scenario & has an ego. Fidgety. Edgy. Of course she’s acting this way. She always has.

stats at a glance

• species: real human
• age: 18
• height: 5'11"/165cm

• visual: arrived in school uniform (book not included)
• canon point: Act 2, Day 3
  (100% Yuri route, after deja vu in the hallway)

• powers: none
• inventory: besides the uniform & sentimental item, an ornate knife
• sentimental item: a page of the manga Parfait Girls
• gemstone: Polished lavender, with monochrome waves matching those of the knife. Roughly oval in shape, and about half is smooth; the rest is gouged haphazardly, like a cutting board that’s seen better days. Bright emerald bleeds through each slice.

Content Warnings

Applicable to the rest of this information.

• Doki Doki Literature Club! is, despite its disarming name and aesthetic, a horror game. It contains frank depictions of depression, anxiety, and suicide.
• Yuri deals with all of the above, in addition to (and especially in Achates): self-harm, obsessive thoughts which may be violent and/or sexual† in nature, and unreality. She’s also been known to make callous remarks, up to and including suicide baiting.

† disclaimer: (click to toggle)

Although violence is part of the Achates premise, I do not want to inflict sexual content on players unknowingly. Yuri is excited by blood; gore & thoughts thereof horrify as much as they stimulate her. Content of this nature will be strongest in toplevels, in which case I assume a tag-in to that prompt = consent to further writing in the same vein. Otherwise, it will be kept at most to suggestive brackets.

Mentions of self-harm and suicide baiting can be avoided entirely, if needed. The rest comes with the character.

Opt-out comment is here.

Application Info

Link to full application as submitted. Spoils the entire canon.

Personality Questions

» What traits do your character admire in a person?

Yuri doesn’t directly express admiration for any specific person or personality traits, but there’s a notable difference in how she behaves when she’s acting with confidence. Often, insecurities take the rein and leave her quiet, uncertain, and convinced that people hate her. Outside this, Yuri normally tries to conduct herself with dignity and poise. She takes her responsibilities seriously, whether as assistant to the Club’s festival or as voluntary Vice President in Act 2, and expresses similarly high expectations for others. Accusations of rudeness, or even an innocuous comparison to the self-doubting protagonist of her favorite book, do not sit well with Yuri.

Subsequently, to the extent that she can control herself, it’s safe to assume Yuri tries to embody traits she finds admirable: respect, confidence, accountability, and honesty—and, ideally, desirability to others.

» What do they dislike most about themself?

Yuri is not normal. She is keenly aware that she’s abnormal, even before Act 2 sends these oddities into overdrive. Her obsessions range from an innocuous love of literature to self-destructive fixations—and her early expressions of her passions, from what backstory is given, ostracized Yuri from her peers. By game start, she’s given up on trying to talk to people altogether.

That said, Yuri never expresses a desire to be “normal;” her opinions and interests are strong, and about this passion she is unapologetic. She’s far more concerned about how she comes off, to the point of openly berating herself for being unlikable. In Act 1, when she’s made aware that her behavior or words have been hurtful or off-putting, Yuri is quick to apologize and explain her intentions.

Act 2’s affect on Yuri’s interests is ambiguous; it’s unclear whether they’d normally be strong to the point of extreme fantasy, or if this extent is only revealed when her filter slips. That said, the shame remains; she’s mortified that these traits are shown so bluntly, and goes out of her way to apologize for hurting a friend early on. It’s likely that the self-loathing remains; what erodes is the self-restraint.

» What discrepancies are there between their inner self (who they feel they are) and their outer self (how they present themselves to others)?

Between her reclusiveness and strong opinions, Yuri comes off as egotistical and, on occasion, a tryhard. Her verbose and metaphorical writing lead her friend Natsuki to think Yuri looks down on anyone who prefers simpler, straightforward fare, and that impression isn’t wrong. Monika wonders later if Yuri cares more about appearing sophisticated than having genuine passion for her hobbies; in other words, Yuri can seem pretentious.

She is, to a degree. She would not describe herself as such. Mature, sure; Yuri’s interests are by no means forced or fake, and they do not have a lighthearted skew. Although she’s self-conscious about expressing herself, she’s not incapable of it; in Act 1, a poetry read-aloud finds her volunteering to present second, inspired by the first speaker’s confident delivery.

As noted in the previous question, Yuri considers her outward presentation, and how it’s received by other people, more of a problem than who she is as a person. She prefaces multiple self-effacing comments with “you must think I’m [presumed trait]” and similar phrases; she doesn’t view herself as arrogant, ingenuine, or any other stated negative. If anything, she’s prone to assuming she comes off worse than she actually does; the player character points out, in one optional dialogue, that comments like these jump to unfair conclusions about what the other person is thinking.

To some extent, Yuri also seems unaware of her nervous mannerisms. Her response to the aforementioned book protagonist comparison, in Act 1, is to declare it “embarrassing” and “terrible” to have bluntness and self-doubt in common, and for the player character to have seen it.

Act 2 gradually whittles away the discrepancy between Yuri’s darker impulses and her behavior around others. Ego is part of this; she has scathing commentary about the other girls in the club, declaring “No one would cry if she killed herself” and antagonizing one with “Are you jealous? Crazy? Or maybe you just hate yourself so much that you take it out on others?” (Notably, many of these comments could be self-applicable.)

» Who are two influential people in their life (can be positive or negative)?

As the story begins, none of the members of the Literature Club are close enough that they see each other outside school; they nonetheless influence each other strongly in the context of their meetings.

In all three Acts where the two exist, Natsuki remains the girl Yuri interacts with most. Act 1 sees a slow development, no matter which route the player chooses, from lighthearted foe to actual friend: they start by bickering over poetry tastes, but by the final day, they’re sharing subject matter to get a better sense of the others’ thought process and stylistic decisions. Despite outward differences, their insecurities both stem from feelings of alienation, and their confidence in their own tastes developed in response. Once they recognize this commonality, it’s easier for them to reconcile.

Yuri’s comments about the player character’s writing suggests that this newfound consideration extends beyond her relationship with Natsuki. If she’s disliked everything the player has shown her so far, on the final day she’ll admit that her critique may have been unwelcome, and that she should have been more considerate towards others’ viewpoints.

Act 2 finds Yuri and Natsuki’s interactions skewed, thanks to Yuri’s behavior becoming increasingly erratic. Act 1’s petty spat is twisted into a scathing argument, which results in Natsuki running off in tears; Yuri is deeply remorseful, and tries to apologize the following day. Natsuki has no memory of the entire altercation. Yuri is unsettled. Neither have a chance to address this onscreen. Although Natsuki later reports having tried to reach out, she says Yuri brushed her off. Yuri can, however, potentially confide in the player about her increasing paranoia; Natsuki’s abrupt forgetfulness is likely a factor.

The actual culprit is Monika, though Yuri lacks both the meta-awareness and sound mind to pin her. In Act 1 their interactions are brief; Yuri respects Monika enough as the group’s leader, but not so much she won’t question Monika’s decisions when they run counter to the group’s stated goals.

By Act 2, however, Monika gradually gives up keeping up appearances, to the extent that both Yuri and Natsuki both take notice. Neither are willing to express their doubts when Monika is present. If Yuri gets to speak to the player in the hallway, she says that, despite first thinking Monika a “sweetheart,” the Club President’s presence now has her feeling “something sharp.” Although it’s possible this paranoia spike is an exaggerated trait, perhaps the natural extension of thinking everyone hates her, Yuri does not express this keen distrust of either Natsuki or the player character.

Monika, Yuri feels, is “always listening.” In one of Act 2’s final scenes, Yuri’s contempt for Monika culminates in blatant antagonism; the “maybe you just hate yourself so much” dialogue, which is directed towards Monika, is followed by “Have you considered killing yourself? It would be beneficial to your mental health.” By this point in the story, Yuri wants the others and especially Monika to go away by any means necessary—and thanks to Monika’s own corruption of Yuri’s character, there’s not a trace of remorse.

» What do they get excited about?

As noted, Yuri can be excitable with regard to her subjects of interest. These include but are not limited to: reading, metaphors, tea, horror, aromatherapy, and knives. Intellectual challenges intrigue her, particularly as a means to think and view the world differently; physically, she enjoys staging an atmosphere. She has less to say about her knife collection, simply that they’re “pretty” and “[the draw might be] the combination of craftsmanship and feeling of danger.”

Any discussion of Yuri and “excitement” would be remiss not to include how this gets translated in Act 2. Fear and obsession stimulate her sexually. Her Act 1 dialogue can be vaguely suggestive, but never overt; in Act 2, one of her poems relays “images of me driving the knife into her flesh continuously, fucking her body with the blade, making a mess of her.” (This is written on paper stained with blood; it’s been “endowed with [her own] scent.”) In one scene, the player catches Yuri alone, breathing heavily, self-harming.

Many of Yuri’s descriptions of her increased agitation, complete with heart pounding and thoughts racing, aren’t unlike how one might describe extreme anxiety. By the final day, the line between a panic attack and a climax is in tatters; after confessing to the player character, no matter his response, Yuri stabs herself to death.

» What is something they are very bad at?

Even in Act 1, most of Yuri’s problems can be traced back to trouble with self-control. She’s been too forward with peers in the past, and genuinely seems to have trouble reading the room & detecting how her comments will be received. It’s also heavily implied that she’s self-harmed, or is at least tempted by the thought: one poem describes the narrator feeding a recurring “urge,” which will inevitably return but is too “enticing” to resist.

Act 2 blows this wildly out of proportion, as described previously. Her filter erodes, she traps the player character in a closet just to stare at him, she cuts herself in the school hallway, displays little care for Natsuki and openly loathes Monika, etc. It’s unclear whether her suicide is a final lapse in self-restraint or if it’s a last gasp at sanity.

» What is one thing they would tell their younger self if they had the chance?

As noted, Yuri’s past is kept minimal by design; her struggle to connect with people defines it. It’s known only that she “would come on really strongly and get a little too intense… It made people not want to be around me.” Thus sparked self-hatred for her obsessions, and “eventually [she] stopped trying to talk to people.”

Telling herself to be less weird is off the table; in Act 1, despite all self-doubt, Yuri expresses that “if I hadn’t learned to embrace my own weirdness, I would probably hate myself.” Kindly, Yuri might tell herself to worry less about what people think and to be easier on herself.

Less kindly, following Act 2’s exaggerated bluntness, she might alternatively tell herself to give up and die. One of her glitched dialogues suggests a more nihilistic viewpoint than Yuri otherwise lets on: “the world is full of horrible people, and we’re all worthless anyway.” Things are bad, in Act 2—and it’s only getting worse.

» How do they want to be remembered?

Yuri wants to be seen as a good person, and to be liked—for who she is, without compromise or change. For all her love of writing and her confidence in her passions, she shows no interest in accolades; baseline approval satisfies her. If her friends take her writing advice, all the better, but she expresses little desire to share her work or skills with a wider audience.

Ultimately, Yuri may not be normal, but she tries to respect herself and others. Being remembered in a positive light is likely the best she can reasonably expect, with such a limited sphere of influence; even in Act 2, she never shows an interest in the player character remembering her one way or another. The bar is low.

↑ back to questions toggle

Memory Screwery

» lost memory #1

Typically, Yuri is insecure & self-conscious to an almost exaggerated degree. The first lost memory will be the idea that she’s always struggled to talk to people. This will see more of her confidence at the forefront; the anxiety will remain without a clear foundation. In a setting like this, it’s not difficult to attribute tension to other causes—and because her history was only ever loosely defined, Yuri will figure she lacked peers for other, less self-blaming reasons. The memory of saying otherwise will be unaffected; that monologue will feel like an oddity. She’ll think she’s always been self-assured, and that any social struggles she faces are the result of current circumstances, not a lifelong theme.

» lost memory #2

Yuri will forget the player character’s identity. She’ll recall being obsessed with someone who joined the Club, but that person’s name, face, and other identifying features will escape her. Thinking of him will be like trying to recall someone in a dream; only deja vu remains. Alongside Natsuki having canonically forgotten an entire argument, Yuri will know for certain that her own memories can’t be trusted, and her overarching sense of paranoia will be higher than ever. However, Yuri will also (mistakenly) assume that the altered memory is a clue towards this mystery person’s identity:

» altered memory

In Act 2, the original Vice President of the Literature Club, Sayori, has been retconned from existence. There’s a small detail in which a poster of Sayori’s death (warning: hanging body, blurry & not graphic) appears in the background; none of the characters acknowledge it. As this only appears briefly on one day, it’s most likely a meta-“glitch,” not something that changes from the characters’ in-world perspectives.

That said, the in-world and meta-narrative lines in DDLC get increasingly blurred. Yuri’s altered memory will be that, in the scene where she pulled the player character towards the closet, she saw the poster. As a result of her canon point, she doesn’t recognize the person hanging whatsoever; and as a result of the second lost memory, she won’t recall who she was talking to by the closet in the first place. She’ll wonder if, somehow, these people were the same. Her sudden arrival in the Achates setting will also feel like a natural continuation of the nightmare her life has turned into.

↑ back to memories toggle

Permissions & Contact

In general: yes. Do it. I love character drama. There are some things I’d appreciate a heads-up about, but in general you have a big 👍 to write whatever you want. No content warnings necessary for me!

OOC

• backtagging: ✔, up to whenever the next event goes up (at which point ongoing threads will be either dropped or nudged to wrap)
• threadhopping: ?, ask first
• fourthwalling: ?, ask first but I’m open to it
• tag style: present-tense brackets by default, but will match
  + I have trouble parsing multiple lines of all-lowercase, and subsequently appreciate capitalization in longer brackets. Thank you!

IC

• physical affection: Yuri will be disconcerted at best and be a little too into it at worst (“worst”?). Do this at your own risk.
• romance/flirting: you’re insane Pursue this at your own risk. Yuri remembers being enamored with someone, but not who, so the subject of romance is something of a jittering bomb.
• violence/injury: Yuri carries a knife. She has little to no physical combat experience, but is liable to get into it if a fight breaks out. (Please see content warnings.)
• mind-reading: For all intents and purposes, Yuri is a regular human being, and moreover completely defenseless against this. She’ll hate the mind-reader’s guts, fair warning.

I go by Flyleaf and any pronouns you see fit! You can reach me via journal PM.

code by yours truly, blatantly ripping off the game info