app for we're still here;

[hardcase]

PLAYER INFO.
NAME: Cass
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: She/Her
ARE YOU OVER 18? Yes
CONTACT: dandymott or vellocet#7191
CURRENT CHARACTERS: None

CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: Randall Flagg
CANON: The Stand (book)
CANON POINT: Right after the nuclear bomb goes off in Vegas
AGE: 1500+ (actual), early 40s (appearance-wise)
GENDER: Male

HISTORY: wiki link

Note: While The Stand is his primary canon, he also appears in The Dark Tower series and Eyes of the Dragon along with a few other Stephen King novels. I'm only counting the novels as canon, not any comic prequels/spin-offs or TV/movie adaptations.

APPEARANCE: here

ABILITIES:

A note: Flagg's powers are somewhat nebulous in canon and come down to 'he can do as he pleases when the plot requires it'. I've stuck to abilities he's explicitly used at some point in canon, and omitted anything that's just speculated on or hinted at. That still left me with quite a long list so if you want me to trim it down just let me know!

Decay/Rot Inducement: Flagg's presence can make living things start to rot or die (from disease or just general decay) and if he focuses on one particular lifeform he can accelerate the process.

Necromancy: He can bring someone back from the dead as long as their body hasn't been destroyed. They'll still be rotting as if they were a corpse, albeit slower than a regular corpse would.

Telekinesis: He can levitate, move/throw/crush objects, and deflect projectiles.

Telepathy: He can read minds and speak to others telepathically, and create illusions or cause people to hallucinate. He can also influence their thoughts to a limited extent (ex: make them more or less afraid of him, make them agree with his opinions, etc.) but this ability can be resisted and he can't completely take control of someone.

Teleportation: He can jump from one place to another as long as he can visualize the location and there is enough space for him to appear.

Shapeshifting: He can change his appearance at will (including adopting some inhuman features like fangs/claws if he wants to), and take the form of a human-sized or smaller non-mythical animal (usually a wolf or a crow).

Transmutation: He can change an object into another object of about the same size and weight (ex: a rock into a key, water into wine). Has to be an object that could reasonably be lifted by a person, so nothing too big.

Fire/Lightning Manipulation: He can summon and control bursts of fire and electricity.

Astral Projection: If Flagg focuses on a particular person or group, he can mentally project himself to their location and see what they are doing. They will get a very ominous feeling of being watched. This ability takes his full concentration and he is completely vulnerable when using it.

Dream Invasion: Flagg can enter the dreams of others and cause nightmares or just talk to them. He can't physically injure anyone in their dreams, but emotional trauma is fair game.

Enhanced Strength: Flagg is stronger than a normal person (at around the level where if he punched a regular person with all his strength it would definitely shatter some bones, but he's not so strong that he can lift a car).

Charisma: Not a supernatural ability (though he can use his telepathy to enhance the effect), but he's very charming and good at swaying the opinions of others and convincing them to do things they wouldn't normally do.

Well-Read: Also not a supernatural ability. He's not a genius, but he has spent most of his long life reading anything he can get his hands on and thus has a pretty extensive knowledge of science/mechanics/history/etc.

WEAKNESS: Self-Doubt: If Flagg is insecure or too stressed or starts to lose faith in himself his powers get weaker and may not work at all.

WEAKNESS: True Belief: In typical Stephen King monster fashion, Flagg can be defeated or weakened by the beliefs of others, whether it's a complete lack of belief in him and his power, or a sincere belief in a higher power (or even just the power of love and friendship).

SUITABILITY: He's lived through many terrible events (many of which he directly or indirectly caused) including multiple apocalypses, and is a general manifestation of hatred and evil and all that good stuff. Plus he's from the Stephen King multiverse so supernatural horror is right in his ballpark.

PERSONALITY.

● Your character has a chance to undo a terrible mistake, but in doing so, there could be unintended consequences for everyone they know. Is it worth the risk? Or should the dead stay dead?

He would almost always take the risk even if the mistake he was undoing wasn't particularly important to him. Hell, he might even undo a good choice he's made just to see how it'd turn out if he did things a little bit differently. He's lived through certain events multiple times already and has an innate curiosity and need to test different outcomes and generally pull things apart and try to see how they work. Being a cosmic horror type of entity, Flagg thrives on the sort of primordial chaos a choice like this would offer him, and if nothing else he'd do it to observe the ripples a small change could have on larger outcomes. If there are unintended consequences for everyone, great! That's what makes it fun!

In terms of actually being able to fix a past mistake, he's vain enough to think that he could succeed if only he could go back and do things a little bit differently, but he never attains the level of self-awareness needed to reflect on his mistakes and correct them. He'd end up using a different plan with the same fatal flaws and would keep blaming the external forces of the universe for his own downfall.

And, needless to say, as a necromancer he definitely doesn't believe that the dead should stay dead, but on a more general level also doesn't believe that there's anything in the world that is so sacred and untouchable that it should be left alone. If you have the power to mess with life and death and time and all that good stuff, do it! It'll be fun if you don't accidentally destroy the universe or something like that, and if you do...well. Shit happens. If the universe was so vulnerable that someone messing around with a few metaphysical concepts could destroy it then maybe it deserved to be destroyed.

● If your character had the option to permanently lose the ability to feel certain negative emotions like fear or grief, or permanently forget certain memories, would they take it? What if they will never know that something has been taken from them? Does loss only matter if it's known what's missing?

He would never choose to forget certain memories because he already has issues remembering things (partially because he's just so old it's hard to keep track, partially as a consequence of dying multiple times and imbuing himself with forbidden magic) and even if he doesn't know what exactly is missing there's a certain level of emptiness that comes with forgetting that he'd rather avoid. It bothers him that certain parts of his life are just blank, especially when he gets feelings of deja vu he can't explain. Bad memories are part of life and can be useful in the future, and as someone who has tampered with the memories of others he wouldn't trust anyone or anything to tamper with his anyway.

There are certain emotions he'd choose to dispose of permanently - most of the negative ones, and a few positive ones like affection. As one of the few entities on his level that used to be human and retains some connection to humanity, he thinks he'd be more powerful if he severed that connection entirely and became completely inhuman like most of his peers. He's actually dead wrong about that; his magic is strong enough but not quite as powerful as he thinks it is. His real strength is in his ability to charm and manipulate others, which requires the ability to relate with other people on some level, and he's accomplished more with that than with all of his powers combined.

● Could your character ever forgive themselves for something morally wrong that they've done? No matter how much time has passed? No matter how much penitence has been done? Is being sorry enough to be a good person?

Flagg doesn't feel guilty for much (although he does occasionally regret harming the small handful of people he's been closest to throughout his life), but he doesn't really believe in the concept of forgiveness or penance for past deeds. He's happy with who he is and has no intention of changing, so he doesn't feel the need to forgive himself for past misdeeds. The sort of atonement that involves putting yourself through suffering and hardship rings especially hollow to him; he doesn't see martyrdom like that as anything other than a pointless attempt to preserve your own sense of moral purity instead of being willing to look inward and accept your flaws. He would have much more respect for someone who was unrepentant and embraced who they were than someone who was always sorry and begging for forgiveness every time they slipped up.

Likewise, being 'sorry' doesn't mean anything to him. Only actions matter: if you've made a mistake you can fix it and try to get back in the good graces of whoever you wronged, or you can move on and accept that they may try and seek revenge for your slight. Whether or not someone feels sorry while they take either action has no bearing on his opinion. He also believes that truly 'good people' are pretty much non-existent, and that most people who consciously try to be good are just serving their own egotistical need to be considered righteous. Being sorry for the sake of being a 'good person' would just make him roll his eyes.

● Your character has a secret they have been sworn to, but revealing this secret could save the lives of countless others. Is it worth breaking the promise to save others, or is betrayal never justifiable?

Jerk that he is, he'd take the action that would cause the most harm: he'd keep the secret if it meant more people would perish, especially if the person who told him the secret would feel terrible in the aftermath. In such a situation, he'd use their perception of his loyalty to make them feel even worse about it - they so successfully persuaded him of the secret's importance that people were hurt because of it, woe! On the other hand, if the person who told him the secret is someone he really wants to harm, he'll reveal it and bask in the praise he gets for saving all of those lives. He will also consider whether or not it would benefit him more to use the secret as blackmail or reveal it later. Basically, don't tell him any secrets, he will never do anything good with them.

When it comes to what other people would do for him, however, he'd absolutely expect someone he told a secret to to keep it even if it cost thousands of lives (or their own). There is no circumstance in which he'd find betrayal justifiable, and if anyone betrays him he'll make sure they suffer worse than they would have if they remained loyal. He's a massive hypocrite like that, something he wouldn't deny if asked (everyone's a hypocrite on some level in his opinion, whether they admit to it or not).

● Has your character ever gotten joy out of hurting others, physically or mentally? If they have, does it scare them?

Not only does he take joy in hurting others (physically or mentally), it is perhaps the activity he derives the greatest pleasure from. Although he is full of hate and malice he's not at all sullen about it, instead choosing to approach his existence with humor and good cheer. Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life, yadda yadda. It would frighten him more if he ever stopped taking joy in it, because then he'd be in for a long, miserable life where he'd still be compelled to do the same terrible things he always does (because he's required to exist as the 'evil' counterbalance to the forces of good). It has to be done, so why not enjoy it?

That said, although causing physical pain is enjoyable to him, it's usually his last resort when he's exhausted all other avenues of getting what he wants. Direct combat is not his strong suit, and mere physical torture is something he considers pretty basic. He strongly prefers to inflict emotional/spiritual turmoil on others, and especially enjoys setting them on a path where they cause their own downfall. Convincing someone to compromise their own values and morals and then rubbing it in their face, or absolutely destroying them on an emotional level, are both much more satisfying than causing physical harm.

WRITING SAMPLES.

SAMPLES: network sample, TDM top level

NOTES.

QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS: If he can have a denim jacket and jeans somewhere in the house that would be great!