devoration | general info.

cw for mentions of infanticide and misgendering, child abuse, pet death, cannibalism, auto-cannibalistic self harm

broadly speaking, the world operates on narrative conventions; people fall into different roles and archetypes, folk tales and rumours can impact reality, and everything exists as parts in bigger "stories."
people have to establish and maintain at least minor roles for themselves, or else they fade into the background of the "story" and become pale imitations of themselves that essentially exist on autopilot. there are various terms for these characters that change over time -- when movies first became common, "extras" was a popular term, and currently they're often referred to as NPCs.
it's modern day but there are more small, self-contained towns in the world than big cities. it's much easier to end up an NPC in a busy city, so a lot of people tend to avoid living in them and spread further out where they can find a place in a smaller community as e.g. a local farmer, tavern keeper, etc.
there is a way out of the rules of the story; the narrative surrounding you has to reach a satisfying conclusion, which is, understandably, so difficult to achieve it is borderline myth. if you had, for instance, a love story so dramatic and grand that it becomes an independent story, then the resolution of that romance would result in a sort of "happily ever after" stasis where the narrative is no longer a concern.

a long long while back, Satomi's ancestors made a deal with a god to bless the sons in their bloodline with good health and long life, and the god was generous; boys born into their family would heal from injuries at an astounding rate. however, the family betrayed the god, and a curse was added -- their long lives were cursed with an uncontrollable hunger.
whether the legend is true or not is COMPLETELY irrelevant. it was a story that became ingrained in the family and community at the time, and now it's true regardless.
this means that the town gains a valuable addition to its own story: a monster.
Satomi is born not knowing about the curse or their family, their mother having moved away as soon as she was old enough and settled down with a husband in another town.
they have a child as a band-aid solution for their marital problems, and the mother is horrified when she gives birth to a boy. she considers killing the child but decides she won't be able to do it without her husband knowing it was murder and leaving her.
instead, she puts all her efforts into 1) raising the child as a girl, 2) raising them strictly to be Good and Pure, hoping that she can force them into a role besides the monster and avoid the narrative attached to her family.
all hope of this dies out when Satomi is 8 years old and their mother finds them covered in blood, having eaten their pet bird when stricken with hunger.
she immediately sends them back to her hometown to live with their only remaining relatives, their maternal grandfather who married into the family and their grandaunt. their grandfather in particular is familiar with the curse because his son's hunger killed several members of the family, including Satomi's maternal grandmother, before the survivors killed him.
Satomi spends several years in the house mostly looking after themself, treated with contempt by their grandfather and grandaunt who see them entirely as the monster and themselves as its jailers. they're almost always starving from the curse, given only enough food to keep a regular person just barely satisfied, and once a month are released into the town at night to kill someone and satisfy themself.
because of their regenerative ability, they find they can keep their hunger at the bare minimum tolerable level by biting into their own arm to substitute for feeding. given that, at 16 they decide to stop killing townspeople and subsist entirely on this.
unfortunately, the monster's reputation suffers for it, and Satomi is considered not to be fulfilling their role. the usual NPC effect begins to take hold, but because the curse comes from their family's narrative, it remains; Satomi becomes a disposable monster character, rather than a blank slate human.
they come back to their senses a few days later, having killed several townspeople while on autopilot, thereby reestablishing their role. looking around their home, they find that they've eaten both of their relatives as well.
from then on they live as quiet a life as possible. they get a job as a delivery person to support themself and pass as a normal human during the day, sneaking back into the family home when they return so that none of the townspeople know they're the monster who lives there. once a month, they take some livestock from a farmer in order to maintain the monster's reputation in the town so that there isn't another autopilot incident. and the townspeople never look too hard, because a town with a monster is one with a strong narrative.

and this is a fake otome game character so then. romance routes happen. i have to come up with like five more characters for that i guess.
spoilers in every route love saves them bc the romance becomes its own narrative wherein the monster can be redeemed, and it's such a rocky journey to contentment for Satomi that self-acceptance and love qualifies as a happy ending and frees them from the demands of the story.

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x-gender, any pronouns fine but default they/them
general archetype & vibes here is "monster ~~girl~~ who hates themself so so so much" e.g. mirai kuriyama, sakura matou, anri sonohara
when they eat something it just Goes. the bite is clean like a guillotine blade cut right through it, and there's no gnawing or chewing involved. if they intend to eat something it is absolutely devoured, whether it's bread or bone.
they're not a bad person, but their personality is cold and calculated. they're almost always thinking about how they can best dissuade people from approaching them, how bad their hunger is currently and whether it needs to be managed, are they fulfilling their role to the story's satisfaction, etc.
they're also deeply lonely. they've never been loved. they're conflicted because deep down they want someone to look past their monstrosity and choose to keep them and put them first, but they can't allow that because they have to carry on as the monster. they're worried that if they loved someone, they'd go on autopilot again and end up hurting that person.
they think of themselves as irrefutably evil, though. they see it as their "nature" regardless of their personality or actions, mostly because of guilt over the harm they've already done. if they could be good, their mother's plan would have worked.
since they're used to being alone and they limit socialising as much as is possible, they're not very good at interacting with other people. it's usually covered up by their brusque behaviour, but really they're just awkward. they tend to wear headphones as a big Don't Talk To Me sign.
on that note, they seem harsh, but they're kind of a doormat. it's just that nobody finds that out if they get chased away first.
they don't really emote, raised by their mother to be perfect and raised by their grandfather to be silent. there's no one left to obey, but a stoic face and flat voice help with keeping people away from them, so they haven't bothered to do any kind of self-reflection or confrontation of that learned behaviour.
there's a real bitterness towards the world that they do their best to repress and ignore because they feel like if they think about it then they'll really become a monster.
they want to be good and kind. they like helping people. it's just not a hope they can harbour while surviving their situation. it's got a selfish motivation, because really they just want to be liked and make other people happy instead of just being a thing they can hate for existing. which is fine, they've never been selfish, don't they deserve to want something -- but to them it's just more proof they're rotten at heart.
they would rather be hurt than hurt others, and they tell themselves that's what kindness is, but it's self-loathing and fear. a lot of what motivates them is fear.